fic for gomushroom (3/6)

[nino-mod.livejournal.com]

For: gomushroom
From: 64907

Part 2


The remainders of the negotiations thankfully have no further mention of Nyx VII and Nino is able to perform his task as Jun’s primary translator without any more incidents until the call for another recess. It continues in this fashion for five cycles, with each cycle shift punctuated with a recess and a tour in the Zuran ship, something that Nino ends up accompanying Jun and Sakurai on.

After five cycles of going back and forth over the allegiance section of the treaty, Jun finally manages to make the Zuran monarch sign it.

To commemorate the success of the negotiations, their party is offered a visit to the sacred temple located in the planet’s capital city, followed by ceremonies which stretch on for two Zuran days (a total of twenty-eight hours since a day in Zura lasts only for fourteen).

As soon as they make it back on the ship, Nino asks Jun for access to his personal records.

He does it inside Jun’s private office, not making eye contact with either Jun or Sakurai.

“If I grant you that, what will you do?” Jun asks conversationally. Sakurai remains standing in his usual place at Jun’s side, his expression an almost comical mixture of caution and confusion.

“I won’t delete anything,” Nino says defensively, not enjoying the way Sakurai is looking at him. “I just...I need to find out what it says about me. About...that time.”

A few beats of silence stretches until Jun inclines his head in a gesture of agreement. He extends his hand expectantly, and Sakurai immediately procures Jun’s personal data pad to place it on his waiting hand.

Jun keys in his authorizations and finds the file in question before handing the data pad to Nino.

“Since I’m the only one who has full access on these things, you’re going to have to look at it with me in the room,” Jun says.

“Fine with me,” is all Nino says, eyes immediately scanning as he begins scrolling.

The first paragraph details things he had put in his résumé and he skips past them until he zeroes in on the colony name.

He pauses and looks up.

“Would you like for Sho-kun to leave the room?” Jun offers.

Nino thinks about it. On any other day he would have said yes. The festivities in Zura happened with him and Sakurai throwing jibes at each other in an attempt to catch the other off-guard. Sakurai had upped the stakes by referring to him as husband under his breath, something Nino returned with equal enthusiasm. Each time Sakurai’s ears turned pink, he considered himself banking points.

But then he remembers that incident in the meeting room and the person who stayed with him and gave him as much time as he needed to right himself.

“No.” He shakes his head. “It’s... I think it’s best if he knows.” If Nino lapses once more, it’s better for Sakurai to foresee it happening so he can take over as soon as possible.

He resumes scrolling and finds that period of his life. He never read what the papers and the coverage had to say when he managed to return to Earth. He has no idea how the incident was viewed by the Union and its allies.

There is only a paragraph dedicated to him being a colonist from the now-uninhabited Nyx VII, formal name QW-5662. He skips the sentence about the colony’s coordinates and exact location and just reads the part about him.

When he’s done rereading it thrice, he highlights the text and enables holoprojection. Jun rises from his chair and begins pacing his room, hands clasped behind his back. Sakurai, meanwhile, reads the holorecord, mouth moving as he squints at the words.

When he’s done, Nino sees that he throws a bewildered look in Jun’s direction, who takes no heed of it.

“It takes me back,” Nino says, turning off the projector option. “Not when I hear the name, but when I hear the circumstances related to that time, like help coming too late.” He fiddles with the data pad in his hands, not wanting Sakurai to notice his fingers twitching. “It doesn’t happen often. I’m telling you because in case it happens again, you can jump in and save Jun-kun from making a fool of himself.”

Somewhere in the room, he hears Jun snort. “Sho-kun handled it just fine in Zura, don’t exaggerate.”

“But it was still unprecedented and since you’re not firing me even though you really should, it can happen again and I don’t want that,” Nino says. He holds Sakurai’s gaze and is unable to name what he sees there. Not judgment, not horror, but something else. “The Union records don’t say everything, of course. But now that you’re aware, you can piece things together, I guess, if you know how things unfolded on Nyx VII some twenty-three, twenty-two years ago.”

“There was a fungus,” Sakurai says, and Nino gives him a grim nod. Sakurai doesn’t say anything other than that. Nino supposes that his knowledge only draws from the holorecords of the incident, perhaps on a couple of theses written on the matter. All scientific, all statistical. The events of Nyx VII are a blip in the statistics of the Union’s off-world settlements. Nobody bothers to ask the traumatized survivors what they had survived out of fear of triggering panic attacks. That part, Nino remembers too well. When he was young he interpreted it as people not caring.

The Union records somehow managed to reiterate that possibility. But Nino no longer has the excuse of youth, so he tries to look at it from a different perspective. A more mature one since he’s technically working for the Union now.

But what really happened stays with him, and the way Sakurai is looking at him is telling him that the man somehow understands. Either that or he has found an ounce of sympathy for Nino.

Either way, Nino dislikes it.

“I’m not here to talk about anything in detail to you. You’re not writing a thesis about it. And besides, I’m not looking for sympathy,” he says, voice hard. If he gets that, it’s decades too late. There’s no use for it. “I’m letting you know so we can work better together. But this part of my history is mine, and while I do know I have your strictest confidence about this, I’m going to have to ask you not to look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Sakurai asks, head tilted, a frown on his features.

Like you pity me. Like you know something I don’t. Like there’s something that’s missing and you’re trying to find it. “Like you can fix things,” he says, finally. “There’s nothing to fix, okay? It’s done. I just experience relapses since I never ventured out into space when I got back to Earth. Until now, until this job. I’m still adjusting, I guess. But don’t look at me like that.”

Jun clears his throat from the corner of the room and they both turn to him, finding him perusing the hard copies of the novels he’d asked Sakurai to pack for him. His fingers are idly tracing the engraved titles on the spines. “You did well on Zura, Nino. Sho-kun, I appreciate everything you did to cover that up. I think the monarch got a hint of it, but she never confirmed any of her suspicions with me.” Jun faces Nino with a soft smile. “I’m not firing you. You’re no diplomat because you don’t bother to hide your doubts about the Union, true, but I’m starting to believe a little skepticism can be useful against an excess of idealism. You are a source of the former and I have to be a complete fool to let you go.”

“Very sweet of you to put it that way, Jun-kun.” It earns him Jun’s laugh. He should have married Jun instead. But that would require a ton of paperwork once discovered, and Jun’s private life is mostly reported to the Union. Jun is a public figure, the face of the planet, and Nino can’t really see the possibility of him getting attached for the sake of diplomacy.

Nino faces Sakurai again. “If one of these days I go absolutely nuts, I guess we can annul it then.” He means that mostly as a joke, but Sakurai doesn’t crack a smile.

If he listens to the voices in his head long enough, that’s how he’s going to end, he believes. With enough stimulus, he can easily cross the threshold. There’s nothing anchoring him other than his grip on reality, after all.

Silence falls upon the three of them, interspersed with Jun humming something off-key to himself as he tries to pick a book to read. He seems very indecisive about the simplest things. Nino feels Sakurai observing him and he deliberately doesn’t pay any attention to it.

When it’s becoming too much of a task for him, he sighs. “Something you’re curious about, husband?” He puts emphasis on the last word and he’s positive what followed is a stifled laugh from Jun.

Sakurai makes a face at him but otherwise opens his mouth. “There are just some things I don’t understand.”

Trust him to be methodical about it. Nino leans back on the chair. “Okay. I’m allowing you one question for the posterity of our union.” He grins when Sakurai rolls his eyes at him. The past few days on Zura definitely made him more open at expressing his irritation and unamusement. “But as you said before, it would benefit us both if this involves asking nicely.”

Jun definitely lets out something akin to a cackle at that one.

Sakurai looks unimpressed at his antics. To be fair, he must have had a great deal of practice with all the years he spent on Jun’s side. “Why did you agree to take this job after so many years of avoiding off-planet work?”

His frankness annoys Nino in the way that he wants to spin his answer to utter crap, but he refrains. Out of respect for the unadulterated curiosity he can see in Sakurai’s eyes and for the sake of their working relationship from here on. “Sometimes I just need to prove a point to myself,” he says, enjoying the way Sakurai’s brows furrow further. He doesn’t add anything else. When one has seen what he saw, experienced what he did, it all makes sense.

The lack of similarity between him and Sakurai is what serves as a barrier between them. Nino can see that he truly wants to understand, that he has these unanswered questions he doesn’t dare ask because it’s obvious that Nino would rather not talk about it.

That respect being handed to him, he can appreciate. He waves his hand. “Don’t think too much on it. I never said it before but I’m not here to usurp your job from you. I’m just here to put my tongue to use.”

Jun lets out another laugh at that, and Nino honestly loves him for never failing to be amused at his jokes.

Sakurai merely tilts his head in acknowledgement, expression unreadable.

“Besides,” Nino adds, deciding to test out the waters, “I would really hate to have your job, Sho-chan.”

Sakurai’s eyes widen at the casual use of nicknames, but Nino simply raises an eyebrow in challenge. They’ve been working together for more than two months, married for most of that time, and Nino has had enough of the formalities. Considering their present status under Ilarian law, now’s a good time as any to ramp things up from civility to something that might eventually lead to friendship.

“Only Aiba-chan calls him that,” Jun says. He’s sitting at the couch next to the shelf and preoccupied with an old classic. He’s too far for Nino to make out the title on the cover. “But I suppose with you guys being married, anything goes, right?”

“Nino’s fine,” Nino offers when Sakurai still says nothing. “People only call me Ninomiya when I did something wrong.”

When there’s another extended pause between them, they both hear Jun clicking his tongue. “Don’t be so difficult now, Sho-kun.” There’s a happy, almost contented lilt to his voice that matches the smile on his face as he turns a page.

Sakurai visibly sighs, looking resigned. “Nino it is then.”

Nino grins at that, pleased that Sakurai—Sho actually conceded this round. This is bound to come back at him sometime in the future for sure, but he supposes he can tick off “call him the Aiba-shi way” on his checklist of things to try with Sakurai Sho.

Someday, Nino thinks he can make Sho smile at one of his jokes.

--

Nino spends the next cycles reading. Not about the scientific discussions regarding that chunk of his past but about language, cultures, customs. Jun informed him that the Union is sending them to a mining planet called Grenus, inhabited by humanoid species but with no prior experience of dealing with humans in person, only via long distance transmissions. All the Union knows about the planet is that it’s a class M (with an atmosphere consisting of nitrogen and oxygen, air cleaner than Earth’s) and the species inhabiting it responded to the Union invitation positively.

“We’re not an expedition team,” Nino argued, back when Jun delivered the news by taking a trip to the bridge and using the comms to announce things himself. “No actual first contact and they’re sending us in? What if they are hostile and just pretending?”

“Then I’m a dead Ambassador by the end of the month,” Jun said, laughing a little.

Nino eyed him in the same way Sho did, that they didn’t find that funny in the slightest.

To placate himself, Nino decided to check out the online databases that are accessible to him to read on Grenus and its known characteristics. Almost Earth-like but five times smaller in diameter, therefore considered as a dwarf planet. It apparently has lush plant life and days on it are filled with rain and thunderstorms. The closest sun is a rarity to see behind thick nimbus clouds.

He listens to the holorecords available and crosschecks the references, trying to judge for himself whether these reading materials can be believed. The cited references truly led him to actual footage of the planetary landscape as well as vivid imagery of the people inhabiting it. For a humanoid species, they look too human. The only difference, Nino notes as he remembers reading about it before, is the lack of a philtrum above their lips. There is also the distinct pallor of their skin to remember them by, but that’s likely caused by the absence of sunlight on their planet.

Nino moves on to the language of Grenus and he feels immensely relieved when he finds out that its people can communicate in standard, save for the more complicated words that are always present in diplomatic negotiations. He nods to himself, thinking they can all use a break after Zura and the hardships it gave them. If the inhabitants of Grenus can understand casual standard, that gives Nino the opportunity to polish his skills in establishing familiarity and camaraderie.

The culture is the unknown part. There’s nothing but a blank space and a collection of sparse, incomplete studies on the matter. He almost frowns at the holos laid out before him but thinks better on it. Perhaps this is why the Union is sending them there, so they can report about it themselves.

“But we’re not explorers,” Nino mutters to himself, unable to stifle his growing annoyance. The Union’s methods are not exemplary in any way, but there are things that are beyond them. Is their ship the only ship that got sent here in this quadrant? He doesn’t believe so.

He flicks his finger to the corner of the screen to contact Sho, and waits for the confirmation that his request patched through.

As soon as he sees Sho’s impassive face looking almost ghoulish because of the holo, he begins talking, ignoring the “what is it now, Nino” as best as he can.

“Does Jun-kun have a scientist of any sort that can help us feel our way around the culture? Because otherwise we’d all end up guessing and for all we know, we might already be committing a criminal offense by, say, sneezing.”

“There is one,” Sho tells him, a questioning look on his round face. “The Ambassador has already added her to the away team this time. She also knows a bit of their language—can understand bits of it but far from fluent, yet she can help us.”

“Oh good, at least we’re not flying totally blind on this one,” he says.

“I assure you, Nino, your concerns—no matter how many of those you have left—have already been taken into account.”

The corner of Nino’s lips quirk up at that. “Is that so? Are you saying you and I share the same concerns about this mission and that Jun-kun already knows them because, as always, you express your opinions so openly in front of him?”

“I’m saying you need not contact the Ambassador regarding things I have already informed him about,” Sho says, voice flat.

Nino gives him a look that’s part-amused and part-annoyed. “Why are you so difficult every time? Just say yes when you mean yes; it would make your life easier.” And mine, he thinks.

“To repeat what you said to me a month or so ago, you didn’t bag a traditional one here, Ninomiya,” Sho replies, eyes dancing with amusement. It’s the closest to delight Nino has ever seen on him.

Nino decides that he likes it. “If our marriage falls apart, it’s all on you,” he says in a fake hurt tone.

“I often wonder if you hear yourself every time you open your mouth. And each time I seem to get proof that perhaps you don’t.”

“Must you be so cruel, husband?” he asks as he smiles, fingers flicking over the holorecords currently open. He can flirt with Sho while continuing his readings; he has always been a multitasker. “Ilarians married us off and wished us prosperity before we left their planet. Don’t shatter their aspirations so soon.”

“Ilarians also married us for love,” Sho says, and Nino swears he saw him roll his eyes for a fraction of a second there, “so I believe we’re on our way to disappointing them without too much effort. They wouldn’t like that, would they?”

Nino grins. “Is that the sound of you somehow wanting to save this marriage? My, and I almost thought you’d divorce me for another.”

“Are you saying you’re a keeper?”

Nino places the back of his hand under his chin. “Have you seen my face?” he asks cockily.

The corners of Sho’s mouth twitch. He doesn’t laugh or smile, but he’s close to it, Nino’s sure. “Very deceiving, if I may say so.”

“One look at my face and people will know who’s at a disadvantage in this marriage.” Nino shakes his head as he quickly skims through some of the text he highlighted two cycles ago.

He hears Sho’s noncommittal hum. “Does that mean you’re a Sakurai, then? Glad we finally settled that, Ni-no.”

The holo is suddenly cut off, with Sho’s amused expression the last thing Nino sees. He can feel his ears burning at the teasing way Sho said his name, half-hating that Sho got the last word (again) and, yet, half-liking it.

Nino doesn’t bother to contact Sho again. Instead he focuses on his readings, quietly chuckling to himself. He’d take the playful competitiveness over the tense rivalry any day. Now that Sho has given him a reason to make a comeback (and he will because not doing so is out of the question), maybe the Grenus mission would prove to be more interesting than what he originally thought.

He grabs his own data pad and opens that list he made the first time Sho showed his dislike for him. It’s a short one and not arranged in any particular order, consisting of the things he wants to try once he manages to figure out what makes Sho tick, but he taps on the screen to add another:

8. Make him blush in front of everyone.

As soon as he taps on the punctuation he can’t help snickering, already imagining how hilarious that one will be if he manages to do it.

--

The scent of ozone is thick when the hatch finally opens, hydraulics roaring around his ears as the ramp lowers. There is the permeating odor of petrichor and it reminds Nino too much of Earth. The soil, however, is not the kind of loam he’s accustomed to seeing on Earth—colored red instead of brown, a mixture that contains more clay than sand and silt.

The Grenu party that welcomes them consists of various town leaders, clad in colorful robes with hoods and wearing knee-high boots. They have no official ruler and their rules of governance vary from place to place. Thankfully, the arrangements for the welcome are happening in the nearest settlement, a short walk from the shuttle dropoff spot.

The soles of Nino’s boots make a squishy noise with each step. The rain continues to pour and he pulls his hood back into place, not wanting water to drip down his face. Jun insisted on not using umbrellas since it might be a foreign concept to a species that has seen more rain than sun and is accustomed to getting wet.

The scientist accompanying them is actually an anthropologist named Yoshitaka, a quirky woman a few years younger than Nino. They met on the hangar of the ship, just before the shuttle boarding, and the only word she said when Nino introduced himself is “sure”.

Nino doesn’t know what to make of her yet, but she certainly looks very interested in their surroundings. She keeps looking and turning around as she walks, droplets of water spraying in random directions as they get caught on the edges of her cloak. She has already exchanged the traditional pleasantries with the Grenu on behalf of the away team, and Jun looked very proud of having her around.

They come upon a large tent that is erected under tall trees, the thickness of the leaves on each providing a makeshift roof, sheltering them from the perpetual downpour. Inside the tent, the town leaders arrange themselves in a neat circle, gesturing for them to take a seat in the provided straw chairs, a massive table laid out between them. Grenus itself is a primitive dwarf planet, something Nino already gathered from his readings, but seeing it in person is another thing. For one, the Grenu looked interested in the way Jun’s away party carried themselves. Nino is grateful Jun had the foresight to tell them that they should leave their data pads in the shuttle and carry only their pocket-sized comms. The sheer curiosity in the Grenus’ eyes is unmistakable.

“We speak standard,” one of them says when everybody has settled in. She has three buns at the top of her head, her hair akin to the color of their soil, only in lighter hues, leaning ginger. “And we welcome you, members of the Union.”

Jun returns the greetings, expressing their desires to know more about the planet and the race inhabiting it. Since this is the first contact in the flesh, there are no expectations of alliances forming at the end of the visit. Grenus is more of a backwater planet anyway, far from known established civilizations and from the attention of the possible incoming warfare. Nino supposes this is the Union’s way of giving them shore leave while still doing their job.

Jun eventually gives the floor to Yoshitaka, who cheerfully takes over by asking the Grenu questions about their planet that are absent from the Union’s databases. She begins the discussion on the planet’s features to break the ice, but eventually she jumps to the culture of the Grenu while Nino and the others observe her.

Nino can’t hear the rain anymore but is certain of it still pouring down because of the scent. Beside him, he can see Jun looking at the faces of each Grenu, trying to commit them all to memory. Jun, of course, has his own qualms about the mission and despite him never disclosing any to Nino, Nino can figure out most of it on its own.

For instance, the Grenu seem too welcoming.

They seem overly eager in answering Yoshitaka’s queries, going into detail whenever she asks, but only when she asks. Nino notices it when Yoshitaka asked about their hairstyles, whether they follow a specific norm or not.

The answer for that one was a curt “no” that they only elaborated on when Yoshitaka had a follow-up question.

From the corner of his mouth, Nino mumbles, “Something doesn’t sit right with me here, Jun-kun.” He doesn’t dare whisper since they have no knowledge of the cultural taboos on the planet.

“Funny, Sho-kun’s been saying the same thing for five minutes now,” Jun says, lips hardly moving and gaze fixed on the discussion happening before them.

“They’re too accommodating,” Nino says, ignoring the unhelpful bit that Jun bothered to share with him. “Normally I’d be thankful, but with my hair wet and my shirt sleeves soaked, I can’t be.”

“Sho-kun is telling me that it’s possible that they are only waiting for us to slip up,” Jun informs him.

Nino schools his features to innocence, not wanting to alert the Grenu that they are suspicious of their hospitality. “I’m going to have to agree with him on that; they are really observing us despite looking almost like us, only paler.”

There’s also something about their movements. They move too slowly, like they are being too cautious of something. It makes each motion less fluid, lacking in gracefulness and coming out forced, even robotic. Nino doesn’t voice out that observation though. He tells himself it’s him being paranoid (it won’t be the first time), but he can’t shake off the nagging feeling that Sho might be right.

Yoshitaka eventually has to scribble all her observations in the notebook she brought (since all data pads were left in the shuttle with Aiba), pausing once in a while to hastily make note of what the Grenu are telling her. Their tone of voice when speaking remains friendly, their expression too, but Nino feels they are all merely waiting for one of them to crack.

He begins to consider being the sacrificial member by trying out something outrageous, but then more people start entering the tent, carrying plates of food. Everything is made of either bamboo or leaves, and Nino can see nothing but green things on each plate aside from the occasional violet (grapes, he hopes) and red.

“I guess meat is a no for this planet,” he mutters quietly so only Jun can hear him.

There’s only Jun’s agreeing hum, and soon, they are being asked to eat.

It’s then that Nino notices that only their side has plates of food laid before them.

“I don’t like this,” he says through his teeth, taking care not to have his lips move. He turns to the sides and sees Sho’s face close to frowning (Nino can tell when he’s about to do that, having seen it multiple times since their meeting in the space station).

“Would you not partake as well?” Jun asks, masking his distrust with curiosity, expression as innocent as he can manage.

Behind Nino, he can feel Jun’s bodyguard Nagase already straightening. The atmosphere suddenly changes from light to tense, Jun’s question hanging awkwardly in the air.

“In our culture,” the female with three buns on her hair says, “we welcome outsiders by providing them with a meal.”

“In ours,” Jun says, “it’s a sign of companionship if we share a meal with others.”

The Grenu’s eyes narrow for a fraction and Nino holds his breath, hating that his stomach is churning at the possibility of unprecedented things happening. She seems mildly amazed at Jun’s answer.

Before she can open her mouth to say something (perhaps a question whether or not they trust the Grenus or not), Nino hears a distinct crunch to his left. He looks over and sees Sho eating, breaking the heavy atmosphere by doing as they asked.

Nino can only stare him. If there’s something on the food...if they are merely waiting for an opportunity…

“We thank you for this serving,” Sho says, keeping his tone light and appreciative.

The town leaders in front of them nod in approval, pleased expressions on their faces. Sho resumes eating, shooting Nino one pointed look that clearly said he should do the same, and Nino takes a deep breath before following his example.

If he dies because there’s something toxic for human consumption in the leaves and the unfamiliar fruits, he figures he’s going to meet Sho in the afterlife anyway. He’s going to strangle Sho then.

The piece of spherical red fruit he’s currently chewing tastes like a mixture of tomato and lychee, sour at first and gradually turning sweet. It’s not unpleasant. From his periphery he sees Jun partaking, although he pointedly doesn’t touch the leaves that emit a rather strong aroma. It’s almost pungent and Nino tries to breathe through his mouth when he samples it. A little bitter and would be perfect with salt, but otherwise fine.

Perhaps he was simply being paranoid.

Sho gives praise about the food as they eat, detailing how the foreign taste remains palatable to his unfamiliar tongue. Nino wishes he could be as eloquent as him, seeing as Sho already has most of the leaders nodding in agreement with every compliment he says.

“He could write an article regarding their food,” Nino mumbles, popping another piece of the red fruit in his mouth. “He describes it so well; you’d think he already read on it before.”

“Are you swooning over him now?” Jun asks, hiding his smirk behind a crispy leaf that has minute pieces of crystalline particles sprinkled on it. Nino thought it was salt but upon closer inspection it seems like a natural part of the plant itself. “Of all occasions?”

“I’m going to pretend I did not hear you say that,” Nino mutters. He catches the eye of one Grenu and he flashes his most appealing smile. “It’s really tasty despite being unknown until now. Thank you.”

He receives an acknowledging nod and he turns back to his food, finishing what’s on his plate. Jun discreetly manages to pass the aromatic leaves to him since Sho manages to hold the attention of everyone with the way he talks. Nino begrudgingly eats those leaves as well, all the while pretending that he’s having the time of his life.

“You’re quite spoiled, you know that?” he says when he manages to swallow the last of the bitter, odorous leaves.

Jun lets out a tiny laugh, hiding it at the back of his hand. He looks proud of himself. “I can never deal with anything that is too pungent.”

All of them manage to finish the meal almost at the same time, with Nino taking last sips of water as the attendants begin to clear everything away.

A male Grenu with three piercings in each ear speaks this time. “After a meal, it is customary for us to exchange seats with the visitors.”

“And what does that denote for Grenus?” Yoshitaka asks, her notebook already whipped out, her hand clutching a pen poised over it.

“An extension of thanks after the gracious serving.”

“Very well,” Jun answers, turning to each of them and giving the slightest tilt of his head, a wordless gesture for them to follow what he’s going to do.

Jun stands and they all do, albeit the Grenus are slower. Jun immediately moves around the table for the swap of seats to be over as soon as possible. Nino tries to follow, but there’s a shuffle of movement close to him when he tries to get past Sho.

Sho, in his haste, has the edge of his cloak trapped under his boot, and he notices too late. He stumbles, caught in his steps, and his first instinct is to reach out to steady himself.

Nino, being the closest to him, is the one who gets Sho’s hand on his upper arm. He reacts instinctively, grabbing Sho’s other arm to help him right himself.

“You okay?” Nino asks. At the back of his mind there is still the nagging fear that the food might be poisoned (he was never the trusting type) and this is some delayed effect he’s seeing. He hopes not. He’s not the praying type, but he’s going to pray for it if this turns out to be some nasty adverse effect of a healthful diet.

“Yeah. Sorry,” is all Sho says, and Nino nods, grip on Sho slackening as Sho lets him go.

It’s then that he notices everybody’s eyes on them. The Grenus are wide-eyed, some with their jaws hanging open, others with their hands over their mouths. They look...horrified, and Nino can only stare at them dumbly, unsure of what’s happening.

He meets Jun’s panicked stare. “What’s going on now?” he says under his breath, and Jun can only shake his head, his expression confused. His face mirrors the shock and perplexity in Nino’s, and—when Nino checks—also in Sho’s.

Yoshitaka seems curious, eyes darting left and right, notebook already open. Nagase and Matsuoka are both frowning and are standing beside Jun now, ready to do their part in case things turn for the worse.

The female Grenu, the gingerhead, is the one who speaks. “Take him.”

Nagase and Matsuoka immediately step in front of Jun, just as Jun orders the three of them—Nino, Sho, and Yoshitaka—to remain close to him. Nino does as he asked, but then he sees that the Grenus aren’t trying to get to Jun.

They are trying to get to Sho.

In fact, three of them already have their hands on him, dragging him away from their party.

“Wait!” Sho protests, trying in vain to shrug the strong grip off him. By the time Nagase and Matsuoka catch on to what’s happening, Sho’s already away from them, closer to where most of the Grenu are.

“Explain,” Jun says, stepping past his bodyguards. Nino has never seen him this angry. His jaw set, his brows knitted, his eyes focused on the female who gave the order.

Sho is still trying to break free of the hold they have on him, demanding answers, but someone harshly tells him to stop speaking. Sho does, face creased in a displeased frown, and Nino’s stomach drops when he meets Sho’s terrified eyes.

He has seen that look before, many times, many years ago.

“Explain,” Jun demands again, breathing heavily. He is trying to calm himself but his hands are clenched in fists. Nagase and Matsuoka remain a step behind him, similar expressions of poorly concealed disapproval on their faces. Only Yoshitaka remains curious, like she’s awaiting the development of things.

“He touched him,” the Grenu says, finally acquiescing. She points to Nino, and Nino gives her an incredulous look.

“He was going to trip,” Nino says, stepping forward. He had to elbow Matsuoka to do so and he’s certain he’s going to hear about it once they’re back on the shuttle.

If they are going to get back there.

“He was going to fall down,” Nino continues. “I had to help him up.”

The Grenu shakes her head fiercely. “He touched you.”

Before Nino can ask what she meant, Yoshitaka beats him to it. “Is that taboo? And for what reason, if it is?”

“Skin contact is forbidden,” one of the Grenus holding Sho back explains. Nino notices that they are holding Sho by the shoulders, his cloak draped over his arms so there’s no direct contact.

Nino remembers where he touched Sho earlier, even the feel of it. “I touched him too,” he says, ignoring the sharp look Jun gives him and the reproachful one he receives from Sho. “On the arm. Skin to skin. Shouldn’t you haul me over there with him too?”

“He touched you first,” Gingerhead clarifies. Nino’s past caring now, he’s going to call her the easiest name to remember. “For our kind, skin contact denotes advances.”

Nino thinks his eyes might bulge out of his head, his eyebrows close to touching his hairline. That was it? An amplified version of sexual harassment? Is that why they are so careful with their movements? Somehow, Nino thinks, that explains a lot.

Across the tent, Sho mirrors his shock, and when Nino checks, everyone in the away party has a similar expression save for Yoshitaka who’s grinning to herself as she scribbles on her notebook. Clearly she found that bit very interesting.

“What are you going to do to him?” Jun asks, being the first one to recover. “Will you punish him over a cultural misunderstanding and an accident? Over an honest mistake?”

“Yes,” Gingerhead says. Sho’s face has definitely begun to lose color now. Nino can sense Jun’s growing rage beside him.

He puts his hand in front of Jun. “Let me take care of this,” he whispers, unsure of what he’s doing but thinking it’s the right thing to do. “If you get ahead of yourself, first contact fails. The Union will know, and while I know you had your experiences of missions failing, we can’t risk our only chance of welcome in this planet. They have constant communications with the Union. By the time you make your report, they would have already made theirs. You can’t get angry.”

They exchange one look, then Jun relents with a stiff nod.

“What’s his punishment then?” Nino asks, stepping in front of Jun. “If you are to punish him, what would it be? Exile? Imprisonment?” He sees Sho frowning at him with each word he says and he drops the worst possibility of all. “Execution?”

“Imprisonment,” Gingerhead answers. “We have enough witnesses here.”

Around her, the Grenus murmur in agreement.

“Is there a way to get him out of it?” Nino asks, raising his voice so he can be heard over the whispers. The Grenus whisper loudly on account of skin contact being forbidden. “Surely there are cases in which skin contact is permitted.”

For one, Nino doesn’t believe that skin contact doesn’t happen with this species. They’re humanoid. Procreation should be more or less the same, and Nino can’t really see that happening without any form of touching. The planet itself is primitive so Nino believes sperm banks are perhaps nonexistent, unheard of in this corner of the galaxy.

Gingerhead appears to consider him. “There is one.” Her eyes narrow and Nino only meets her measuring stare with the same intensity. “If you are related to him, it can be allowed.” She scrunches her nose. “But to witness such a thing publicly…”

Nino doesn’t dwell on the fact that she and her kind are scandalized by Sho having two left feet. “By blood?” he asks. “What relation are we talking about exactly?”

The muscly Grenu holding Sho down answers. “By blood or by union.” His voice is gruff and he’s been giving Nino disgusted looks ever since the incident. “Yet such things should be kept private. To show it in front of many is a disgrace.”

Nino hears Jun’s sharp inhale and he meets Sho’s stare, tilting his head. Sho looks hopeful now, the fear beginning to leave him. Nino’s certain they’re all thinking of the same thing.

“Then I extend my humble apologies for this oversight,” Nino says in confidence now. Gingerhead eyes him warily and he smiles at her. “And I would like to request for your people to unhand my husband.”

It’s the Grenus turn to be stunned now, and Nino wishes he can capture the moment.

Gingerhead shoots him a distrustful look. “You lie.”

“I most certainly am not,” Nino says calmly, taking a daring step forward. “We are married under Ilarian law, and since Ilari is an ally of the Union, the Union recognizes the marriage.” He inclines his head in Jun’s direction. “The Ambassador is considered as an Ilarian elder and has witnessed the ceremony himself.”

“Surely you have heard of Ilari?” Jun asks, standing beside Nino now. “The Union has informed me that your kind has made contact with Ilarians before.”

“We are familiar with those who hail from the Pegasi system,” Gingerhead acknowledges, her face scrunched in displeasure. “But we are not familiar with their laws. They come only in trading ships.” Being a mining planet, Grenus has invaluable metal ores that Ilari benefits from in the construction of their ships.

“Should’ve let us bring a data pad,” Nino whispers to Jun.

“Had I known I would have,” Jun murmurs. He faces Gingerhead again. “I am an Ilarian elder and my fellow elder officiated the matrimony. I was an acting witness, a requirement for the marriage to hold and be considered legal under Ilarian law. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” the muscly one holding Sho asks. He doesn’t mask his rudeness and Nino sees Sho’s face darkening because of the blatant disrespect directed at Jun. He tries not to smile.

“We ate your food,” Jun says calmly, stepping closer to them now. “We drank your water. We visited your planet. How many of you are in this tent right now? Fifteen, twenty? There are only six of us.” Jun waves his hand to gesture at their party. “And yet we came here, believing your kind would not cause us harm in any way. Have we not shown enough trust?”

This one, Nino will hand over to Jun. Jun is using his diplomatic tone now and all eyes on the tent are on him. He stands in front of the Grenus with conviction and unyielding confidence, unafraid despite their number. He can hold an audience, and Nino can see Gingerhead realizing that.

“If you truly don’t take my word for it, establish contact with Ilari. You said they are your trading partners. Contact them, give them my name. They are going to tell you the same,” Jun says, not without a hint of challenge.

It takes a couple of agonizing seconds before Gingerhead’s face relaxes. “We will take your word for it. For now. However you may not leave the planet until Ilari confirms that you are one of their elders.”

Jun only nods. “I accept.” He gestures towards Sho. “Will you let him go now?”

“Wait,” the muscly one says, tightening his grip on Sho’s shoulder. He’s the one who looks most disbelieving of all. Sho winces in pain but he sticks to silence. “If you are not truly married to him—”

“I am,” Sho says, his annoyance beginning to become visible. He held back for as long as he can, but the grimace he always directed at Nino is now focused at the Grenu surrounding him. “It’s an Ilarian custom to brush the inside of one’s wrists with their partner. We have done that.”

The Grenu’s grip on Sho’s shoulder slackens, his mouth falling open in shock.

“Bare wrists at that,” Nino adds, knowing that they must find it so scandalous. He resists the temptation to laugh at their horrified faces. “So if you can kindly let him go now, I would appreciate it. We’ve only been married recently and I would hate to be a widower so soon.”

From his periphery he sees Jun’s grin broadening at that. The ones holding Sho reluctantly loosen their grips, with the muscly one being the last to let his hands fall to his sides. Sho rubs at his shoulder as he slowly walks back to their side, but he stands beside Nino this time.

“I won’t touch you to annoy them, even though I think it’s going to be really hilarious and rewarding,” Nino says quietly. “Are you all right though?”

“My shoulder hurts,” Sho complains, but Nino can hear the relief in his voice.

Jun is watching them and when Sho gives him a reassuring nod, Jun looks at Gingerhead again. “If you can establish communications with Ilari now to clear this misunderstanding, it would be appreciated. The sooner this incident is behind us, the better. The Union has no wishes to cause offense nor leave an unfavorable lasting impression. I meant what I said before. We come in peace.”

A female Grenu with long dark hair volunteers to contact Ilari. The rest continue watching their party cautiously, but Jun merely walks to the nearest chair and stands before it.

“May I?” he asks politely, putting on that innocent expression once more.

The native nearest to him nods and Jun takes a seat, feet crossed at the ankle. He beckons the rest of them to do the same and they follow, Nino taking a seat beside Sho, figuring they have to show that they are indeed what they claimed to be. To Jun’s left, Yoshitaka is hastily scribbling. Nagase and Matsuoka remain standing on their sides, acting as their protection in case another incident happens.

As soon as the Grenu with dark hair returns and whispers in Gingerhead’s ear, Jun relaxes more in his seat.

Gingerhead turns to them. “We deeply apologize, Ambassador. Ilari said you are indeed part of their council and considered an elder with the highest esteem.”

“I am willing to forget this incident on account of your hospitality earlier. It was a misunderstanding, one that is always unwanted but prone to happen. As the Union learns more about your planet and your people, hopefully we can avoid the occurrence of such in the future,” Jun says, his tone friendly and patient now.

The Grenus eventually take their seats after that, and Yoshitaka doesn’t waste any more time, asking about more cultural taboos. The Grenus answer her in detail, no longer withholding information, perhaps in their desire not to cause any more misinterpretations and as a sign of repentance.

The cultural education continues on and is, honestly, too dull for Nino to focus on so he settles for half-listening and observing everyone in the room. He notices the muscly one holding Sho down earlier locked in a staring contest with his seatmate and he nudges Sho’s side with his elbow—taking care not to make contact with Sho’s bare arm—to get his attention for a brief moment.

“That one doesn’t really like you,” Nino whispers. “Or maybe he really has the hots for you. That kind of stare usually means only two things.”

Sho casts a sideways glance at him. “And now you’re staring him down as well.”

“Just letting him know you’re off-limits in case it’s the latter,” Nino says, smiling a little when he sees a brush of color on Sho’s cheeks.

When the Grenu is the one who breaks the stare, Nino hums contentedly and listens half-heartedly to the ongoing conversations around him.

--

Yoshitaka is the one who fills in the gaps in the Union’s databases about the Grenus and the planet itself, to be proofread by Sho (who else) before it is submitted to Jun for approval. Nino knows because Jun had him make an incident report to back up their information, and he is currently typing with Sho working on his side.

The contact with Grenus is considered as a success, a first for Jun with a planet that had no prior personal contact with the Union. After the lengthy cultural and political insight, the planet’s inhabitants compensated for the misunderstanding by throwing a parting feast, something Jun accepted graciously so as to placate the Grenus that the Union is truly willing to overlook the incident.

A cycle and a half later, back on the ship, Nino finds himself joined by Sho in the observation deck, his own data pad tucked under his arm while Nino remains seated on the only bench in the room, his legs outstretched.

“May I join you?” Sho asks then, and when Nino frowns, he immediately explains, “The Ambassador wished to make his report to the Union privately. I would head for the library, but the whole level is closed due to ongoing repairs in engineering.”

Nino only shrugs then, swinging his legs down to make room for him.

When Sho is finally seated, Nino tilts his chin towards the man’s data pad. “Is that Yuriko-chan’s report?” Their stay in Grenus allowed him to be more familiar with Yoshitaka, who is not as indecipherable as he originally thought. She had a quirkiness to her that Nino adores.

“Yes. This will supplement the Ambassador’s personal report. The Union always requires a personal one from him and a written form from one of the members of the away party for crosschecking.”

“They don’t trust Jun-kun to be truthful?” Nino scrunches his nose at that. He never had a favorable impression of the Union and its methods. It’s still a wonder to him that he’s working for them.

“The Union likes to eliminate the possibility of biases,” Sho explains, patient in a way that Nino doesn’t understand. He can never understand Sho’s feelings about the organization. But then again, it’s not Sho who was once an inhabitant of Nyx VII.

Nino raises an eyebrow at that claim. “But you’re the one who makes these written reports most of the time. You’re Jun-kun’s secretary. If they want to be rid of biases, they’re certainly overlooking your position in Jun-kun’s envoy.”

“Ideally, the Union requires two reports to eliminate biases,” Sho rectifies. “Honestly, they just want to give the Ambassador more work. They don’t find diplomatic missions as exhausting as training missions.”

Nino clicks his tongue. “Sometimes I think the Union is chasing after this war threat themselves. Like we’re just here as a formality, to show the enemy that we’re not doing what they are, but in reality we are.”

Sho faces him with a curious expression. “And since when have you considered yourself part of the Union, Nino?”

“Things get pretty weird the longer I stay in space,” Nino claims, daring Sho to challenge him. He looks down at his slippers. They used to be pure white and smelling like the refresher in his quarters, but now they have smudges of dirt on their sides. Proof that he has been using them long enough and that he has gotten accustomed to the material under his feet. “I don’t know when I finally accepted the fact that I am working for the Union, but somewhere in the past months, that happened.”

Sho says nothing, and soon, Nino feels his stare. He turns. “What?”

“I just thought you’d be more...angry, given the circumstances,” Sho says, uncertain.

Nino scoffs. “What, over an incident that was twenty-something years ago? Don’t get me wrong, Sho-chan, I haven’t forgiven the incompetence of the Union for that. It’s the kind of thing that stays with a kid, and I was a kid back then. But I’m not a kid now, and the more I remain here, the longer I work for Jun-kun, the more I realize that maybe, at that time, chances were the wrong people were the ones in power.” He looks out and watches the stars, floating out there behind the thick glass panes of the deck. “I still hear it sometimes, you know. Before I go to sleep.”

“Hear what?” Sho asks, his hands motionless over his data pad.

“His voice. How he proclaimed it over the speakers placed all around the colony. Nyx VII was almost like Earth, did you know that?” He turns and sees Sho nod. “Yeah, I figured they would spend a paragraph or two describing how the place looked like before it all went to shit. How many theses and reports have you read about it, Sho-chan?”

“Enough,” is all Sho says.

“Do you want to know what incident reports can’t tell?” Nino says, gesturing to his own data pad. He’s past halfway to finishing his revisions, and soon he can hand it over to Jun. Incident reports are for Jun’s personal records, but Nino wants to preserve whatever high regard Jun seems to have for him.

Sho only frowns in question and Nino gives him a small smile. “They don’t really tell you what it was like for the people who were there. The Union doesn’t want biases because they don’t want opinions, they want facts. And with facts, funnily enough, the ‘how it felt when it happened’ is omitted and the ‘how it happened’ part of the thing becomes the focus. In the end, it’s all for study purposes. A piece of history. Something to store in a library. It’s like it never really occurred at one point in time.”

“Like it’s not real,” Sho says.

Nino hums in agreement. “I hate these things,” he says, gesturing to the almost finished report on his pad. “I read some of these before I typed mine to get the hang of it, and of course I picked the ones that detailed the events in the final weeks of Nyx VII. They’re as impersonal as they can be, like a droid wrote it and it was simply some casualty that could have been prevented.”

“But it could have been prevented,” Sho tells him, and Nino sighs.

“Is that so?” He meets Sho’s eyes. “No one had any idea that an exotic fungus would grow on the crops and destroy them before we even realized it was there. No one had the power to predict that after a year and a half in the colony, we would all be on the brink of starvation.” He shakes his head. “No one thought he would declare such a thing,” he says, voice dropping in pitch.

Nino exhales, willing his anger not to surface. A part of him still clings to that emotion. Doing so helped him survive. “But what did the papers say? The reports, the theses?”

“That the lack of communication from the governor of Nyx VII is the reason help came too late,” Sho says, indulging him.

“That they propose that in the future, off-world settlements should be asked to establish contact with the Union regularly to prevent such a thing from happening again,” Nino says. A laugh bubbles from his throat and he has no idea how it got there. “In the end, we were a thesis recommendation. A source of credits for any high-ranking officer thirsty for a promotion.”

Sho falls silent and Nino can’t look at him. He might see it again, that look Sho gave him when Nino spoke about this the first time. He hates how the simple act of writing an incident report reminds him of many things, exposes him to truths he’d rather not know. When help came, he was already beginning to eat dirt and tree bark along with the other children. He was one of the oldest in the bunch at that time and the younger ones looked up to him. He kept them safe.

He can still remember the cool rush of air from the thrusters hitting his face as the evacuation shuttles began landing. He couldn’t believe it. He thought he was going to die in the colony, then medical staff from the Union clad in white started running towards them, saving their lives. Whisking them away from the hell they all had willingly walked into.

He hadn’t bothered to read the reports on the incident after a medical facility had cleared him and he was allowed to return to Earth. Nino thinks that reading them now, at his age, reveals nothing but insensitivity on the Union’s part. It’s a curious thing, that an organization whose main goal is to establish unity in the galaxy is deficient in something as simple as sympathy. He had been ten or eleven when it happened and his feelings hardly changed.

But he works for them now, technically, since he is an interpreter for the ambassador. He powers on his data pad again and deletes a line that seemed more like an opinion to him. He undoes the omission and rereads the same sentence, then he sighs.

“Sorry to impose,” he says, breaking the silence, “but would you mind looking over this one as well? I can’t decide if this is as impersonal as all Union reports are.”

“I don’t mind,” Sho says in a reassuring tone, a first for him. Nino lifts his head. “You can send it to me when you’re done.”

“Thanks,” Nino says, meaning it. He didn’t mean to talk about himself but Sho patiently listened. There was no judgment, only Sho paying attention.

Sho shakes his head, dismissing it. “It’s all I can do.”

It takes Nino a moment, but he catches on. “Payback for saving your life on Grenus, huh?” He keeps his tone light, switches back to teasing as best as he can.

Sho gives him a look and he laughs, glad that they’re reverting back to the usual atmosphere between them. “Maybe I should put that here, that I saved Sakurai Sho from lifetime imprisonment by telling the Grenus that I am married to him.”

“Go ahead,” Sho says challengingly. It makes Nino grin. “I’ll delete it anyway, and after that there will be no proof that I got out of it because you did that.”

“You can say that all you want,” Nino dares, even scooting closer to show Sho his face, the undoubtedly irritating smile he has on. His report is for Jun’s eyes only, but he’s seriously considering adding unprofessional comments on it just to annoy Sho as he looks over the thing. “But I sure kicked ass back there, saving your life.”

“You’re annoying,” Sho says, turning to face him. This close, Nino can see the lines surrounding his eyes. He wonders if those would be prominent when Sho laughs. If he can laugh.

Nino smirks. “I’ve been told.”

“Good,” Sho says, voice dropping to a whisper, then he closes the distance and kisses Nino.


Part 4