fic for astrangestorm!

[nino_mod]

For: astrangestorm
From: :3.

Title: Leaping at the chance
Pairing: Sakumiya
Rating: PG-17
Word count: ~16k
Warnings: No warnings apply
Summary: Nino is running away from something. In search for a way out, he boards a luxury space cruise under a fake identity. He soon will discover, though, that his runaway won’t go as unnoticed as he had planed…
Notes: Hi, astrangerenters! I hope you like how this fic turned out. I tried to use some of your ideas and combined science fiction, fluff and creatures. I hope you enjoy it :)

Leaping at the chance

 

~1~

Nino rushed to enter the crowd. He went forward as fast as he could, desperately trying to make his way to the spaceport while trying his best not to take a look back at every moment. He felt sweat running down his spine, but he was utterly nervous, and he couldn’t help it. After all, he was being chased. Suddenly, a man carrying a big suitcase crossed his way, startling him. Nino dodged him as quick as he could and went around him running now to his left. The more he entered the crowd, the more Nino found it harder to advance. The heavy bag he was carrying on his shoulders wasn’t of any help either. Nino took a terrified look at his right and sped up, walking as fast as he could.

Pushing and dodging he finally reached the spaceship boarding zone, where the crowd only multiplied. It became harder to move, to the extent it became even difficult to breathe, trapped in such a dense crowd. Nino slipped himself through two tall men and finally managed to see the Departures Information Panel for the day.

Three ships were leaving the spaceport that day.

Only one within the next hour.

He had to take that one. Whatever it took. It was his only chance.

He knew it wasn’t going to be easy and, to be honest, he had no clue how he was going to make it. On the run as he was, he had no boarding ticket, nor enough money to buy one. Nino took a deep breath and readjusted the bag he was carrying on his back. There was no other way. He had to think of something, anything, that would take him out of the planet. And fast. Otherwise everything would be over. It would mean the end of…

Suddenly he sensed a pair of eyes fixed on him. Aside of fierce goosebumps, he felt his heart beating faster and faster. There was no time to lose. No time for plans. No time at all.

With trembling hands he began to walk towards the biggest of the three starships departing that day. The one which had ‘Luxury Space Cruise Sami The Third’ written in shiny golden characters on its side. Nino pushed to make his way towards it, but the closer he got, the more frenetic the passengers, porters, clerks, security and crowd’s comes and goes became. Tons and tons of luggage and packages were carried non-stop from one side to the other, making it hard to walk. That amount of luggage! Nino dodged, bent and even ducked. And finally, he got to the boarding ramp, stopping his feet right there. He sighed in desperation. It wasn’t going to be easy either to sneak into such a luxury vessel. Hand under his chin, he lost himself to the study of the real possibility that he had to run away on the cruise, when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Nino jumped on his feet in fear, his heart skipping a beat. He had been caught! It was over!

Slowly he turned around, not daring to breath, moving his eyes on the direction of the hand while swallowing, prepared for the worst. Ready for the ferrous eyes of a security guard… or something worse.

A pair of proud dark eyes fixed his, but not those of a security guard, but those of an elegant man wearing a very expensive suit. He was looking at Nino with the arrogant look only a rich man could have. A rich passenger.

“Y… Yes, Sir?” Nino blabbered.

“Are you a porter from the ‘Sami the Third’?” He asked with a clear and demanding tone.

Nino only needed half a second to understand the chance he was being given. Nino was wearing cheap clothes and sure didn’t look like someone who could afford a passage to the Luxury Cruise. And so, that rich man had misjudged him for a cruise porter. It was perfect, actually. Then, he’d become one. Nino tried hard not to smile. That was it. That was his way in.

“Yes, Sir. Could I be of any help?” He tried his best to sound servile and professional. Or so he hoped.

“It was about time! Can you take my luggage to my room?” For the tone the man was using, Nino had no doubt about it not being a normal question. It was a demand.

“This suitcase, Sir? Of course, I’ll be honoured to take care of it. If you would be so kind to show me your boarding ticket so I can complete the check in for you and have your luggage sent to your room, Sir”

Nino held his breath, praying for that trick to work out. He just needed a little time. Enough to enter the ship and hide somewhere inside. Just a few minutes of luck.

But the man ended up being gullible enough. All he did was to take his boarding ticket out of his jacket inner pocket and handle it to Nino without even bothering to look at the porter. Nino took it completely amazed by the man’s lack of interest on the matter, then read it out loud as if he was confirming it. He really hoped that was the way it looked, and the way that was supposed to be done.

“Mr. Matsumoto Jun. Suite 510. Great choice, Sir, if you don’t mind me saying” Nino had no idea whatsoever if the man’s room was or wasn’t a good choice, and truth was he didn’t care at all. He just wanted to sound sloppy and clerky enough to trick the man.

“I suppose” Matsumoto answered in an atonal voice. That man looked like he couldn’t care less about the cruise. Well, don’t worry, Nino thought, I’ll save you from having to board it.

Nino checked the boarding ticket slowly, not having the slightest idea about what he would be expected to be looking for. He decided to just nod and smile blankly at the passenger.

“Everything in order, Sir. Welcome to the ‘Luxury Space Cruise Sami The Third’. I hope you enjoy your stay with us. Now, if you excuse me, I’ll bring your luggage aboard and do the check in for you. I’ll be back in a moment with your boarding ticked validated. Sir” Nino made a bow and took the passenger’s suitcase and boarding ticket while repeating nonstop in his mind: ‘Don’t follow me, don’t follow me, don’t follow me…’

But that day, the Goddess of Fortune must’ve been on Nino’s side, because the moment he grabbed the rich man’s suitcase and ticket, Mr. Matsumoto’s phone began to ring.

“Excuse me” the rich man said in a cold tone meaning ‘leave me alone, now’ before turning his back on Nino to answer the call.

That was it. That was his chance. Nino tightened his hand over the suitcase handle, pressed the boarding ticket between his fingers, and run towards the boarding ramp while trying to remember all of Matsumoto’s personal data, in case he was questioned while trying to board.

Luckily, he didn’t need any of it. There were so many people boarding at the same time, that the clerk on Nino’s line only took a rough view at the ticket and suitcase and welcomed him on board while stepping aside to let him through.

He was inside.

It was done.

 

~2~

Once inside and safe, Nino checked yet once again the boarding ticket, still not completely believing that the trick had worked out. He felt sorry for Mr. Matsumoto, but it was a matter of life or death.

After adjusting the heavy bag he was carrying over his shoulders, Nino held tight Mr. Matsumoto’s suitcase handle and stood in front of the information panel, looking for the room distribution display. He searched for Suite 510 and almost lost his breath when he found it was on the priority floor, on the left side of the vessel, where all the observatory decks where. Wow, he thought. Sorry, Mr. Matsumoto. But thanks for your luxury Suite. And without a second thought he called the elevator that was on the right side of the information panel.

A short walk, a few passengers passing by, a moment of doubt, and he got to his room. The name of the room was written on its door in gold, using elegant characters: Suite 510. Nino look to both sides and entered the room.

The room itself wasn’t as big as he had imagined it to be, but sure it was twice as luxurious. It had an enormous window that went from the ceiling to the floor on one side, a red spongy sofa facing it and even a wooden shiny table and a pair of chairs. To Nino’s left there was a small bar. To his right, and elevated one step from the floor, was a king size bed dressed as if for the royalty; also, a big wardrobe and another door. Nino left the suitcase on the floor and checked the closed door first. It was the bathroom, of course. With jacuzzi, a shower with hydrotherapy, and yet another big window, in case you wanted to count the stars while having a relaxing bath.

Nino left the bathroom and closed the door. He also made sure the main door was locked. Only then did he let go of the bag he was carrying, putting it with great care on the bed’s duvet, sitting by its side. Nino fixed his preoccupied eyes on it, and with the softest tone he was capable of, he spoke to it.

“You’re safe now. Or at least, for now. You can get out of the bag. Come on, no need to worry” His voice was reassuring.

Then, all of a sudden, the bag moved. First to one side, then to the other. As if something was trying to get out of it. Nino reached for it and widened the opening, and as soon as he did, two big eyes and a small mouth made his way out of it. The creature looked around nervously, trying to cover every corner of the room seen from the bed. Then, his eyes found Nino. The creature chirped and jumped to his lap as fast as the wind.

“Yes, yes, it’s me” He said while caressing the creature’s head.

Nino let the creature cuddle until he thought it had calmed down enough. Then, he put it softly on the bed and made it pay attention to him.

“Listen. We’re still in trouble. You’re still not completely safe. That’s why I want you to not go out of this room, no matter why. Stay here, do you understand? It’s the only way I can keep you safe until we reach the first spaceport in which this ship stops. Then I’ll take you to your native planet and… and then you’ll be safe, and free, and surrounded by your kind. You want that, right?”

The creatures chirped and jumped on the bed. Nino wasn’t completely sure the creature had understood a word he had said.

“So… no leaving the room” He repeated.

The creature chirped.

“And don’t make too much noise. We don’t want to stand out, do we? Understood?”

The creature chirped in a small voice and turned around, now willing to investigate the room out of curiosity. Nino smiled and stood up, watching the creature jump and getting distracted by every object in the room. Nino was carrying his bag to the other side of the room to prepare the creature’s meal when suddenly someone knocked on the door. Nino froze right away. He looked at he creature and at the door alternately, fear in his eyes and hands rigid around the bag. What to do? The door knocks echoed again in the room. He had to do something.

“I’m coming!” He exclaimed, rushing to lift the creature and taking it to the bathroom. “Stay here and don’t make any noise” he whispered before closing the bathroom’s door and heading to the main door. Once in front of it, he took a deep breath and opened it in a deliberate slow move.

In front of him was a tall bellboy, with a wide warm smile on his lips.

“Good evening Mr. Matsumoto. My name is Aiba Masaki. I’m in charge of this floor. I am so sorry to interrupt you, but I’m afraid we forgot to give you the program for tonight’s event when you checked in. I apologise for any trouble we may have caused you,” the bellboy bowed briefly. “I came to handle it to you in person, Sir”.

Aiba gave Nino something inside a golden envelope using both his hands while bowing again. Nino looked at it with apprehension, wondering in what kind of a mess had he gotten himself into now. As the bellboy rose his head, Nino faked a smile.

“Oh, you didn’t have to. Thank you! No wonder I couldn’t find it anywhere!” Nino improvised while accepting the envelope.

Aiba smiled back, but he didn’t move. Nino was getting nervous. He stared at the bellboy impatiently while rising his eyebrows.

“Anything else?”

“Oh. Is the Suite to your liking, Sir? Do you need me to bring you anything?”

“No. I’m fine. Thank you. The room is perfect”

“I’m glad to hear that, Sir. The event starts at nine o’clock. I hope you spend a wonderful soirée”

“Thank you” Nino answered not having the slightest clue of what was the bellboy talking about. He just wanted the clerk to leave. He was getting tired of faking that smile.

“Then, if there’s nothing else, excuse me”. Aiba bowed yet again and finally stepped back. Nino didn’t lose the chance. He bowed back and closed the door at once.

Finally alone again, Nino leant against the door and took a deep breath. That had been close. If that bellboy had heard the creature… The creature! Nino stood still and rushed to the bathroom, leaving the closed envelope on the wooden table. He checked the bathroom a little anxiously, but as soon as he found the creature, he saw there was nothing to be anxious about. It was playing inside the empty jacuzzi, sliding from one side to the other happily.

Nino smiled and let the creature enjoy itself. Considerably less agitated, he returned to the main room. From the big window he could see how the ship was already leaving the planet’s atmosphere.

“Half way” Nino whispered while leaning his right hand on the wooden table. His fingers touched the texture of paper, making him look away from the window and fix his eyes on it.

Right. The envelope.

In a quick move he took it and put it in front of his eyes. What would that program be about? Well, there was only one way to know. Nino teared the envelope on one side and took the program out of it. When his eyes read the written title, his mouth opened wide open.

Luxury Intergalactic Cruise Single’s Event
Elegant soirées, gourmet’s delights, insuperable space sights!
With a pairing success of 79%!
Welcome to the finest of single’s events!

“What the?!” He shouted unconsciously.

So that stuck-up Matsumoto was boarding that luxury cruise for a single’s event? No wonder he tried so hard to look uninterested in boarding! He didn’t want to be found out!

Nino read anxiously the back of the program. He sure wasn’t obliged to attend, right? His eyes run through every printed character until he reached a list of attendees. No kidding! Matsumoto’s name was written down there, clear and unavoidable. Nino felt sweat running down his nape.

We hope you all attend the event as confirmed.
Dressing code: formal

“Shit!”

As he had checked in as Matsumoto Jun, was now occupying his room, and Aiba Masaki the bellboy had seen him, he had no choice but to attend. Things were getting complicated. First, he wasn’t sure about the creature doing as he had told it to. He would have to lock down the door well. Of course, it was completely out of the question bringing it to the event. Second, he didn’t have anything that could be considered formal to wear.

Nino walked up and down the room, until his eyes fell on Matsumoto’s suitcase. Sure the rich man was taller than him, but better an ill-fitting suit, than no suit at all. Nino sat in front of the suitcase and apologised to Matsumoto in his head yet again.

When he opened it, the first thing he found meticulously folded, was a tuxedo.

He had run out of excuses.

 

~3~

When Sho got to the venue he looked around completely taken by surprise. He wasn’t expecting such an elegant and luxurious event. There was a gigantic chandelier hanging from the ceiling, no less. More than a single’s event, overall it looked like an old times aristocracy ball. Well, except for the concept of it, of course. There were long tables full of beverages and food surrounding the room, some waiters offering champagne, wine and cocktails, and a lot of people in impeccable tuxedos or elegant gowns. Sho took a deep breath. He was getting nervous about the whole thing, now that he was finally there. Walking through the room he found it hard to believe Ohno had been the one who had recommended him attending to that event. When Sho had told him that he felt as if all the people he knew were just clients or workmates, Ohno had talked to him about single’s events. Sho almost had dropped his jaw when Ohno told him he had been to a few so far. Ohno nonetheless! That didn’t suit him. Ohno, his childhood friend, the one who was easier to picture going on expeditions to unknown and mostly uninhabited planets in search of new species, lost civilisations, old ruins and the like. It took Sho great effort to picture his friend, who was always dressed in expedition clothes, attending to one of these events.

Well. He sighed. If Ohno recommended it, there was no way he wasn’t going to give it a chance at least. Who knows? He began to think it could turn out to be an exciting adventure, then he let himself dream of a first encounter with someone interesting, someone who could make his heart beat fast.

Someone to fall in love with.

That was it. That was the reason he had spent almost all his savings on that expensive cruise. He was betting on himself. He wanted to do something for himself. Soon he realised he wasn’t nervous anymore. That was right. He was there because he was looking for a chance to change his life, even if just a little. Any change was welcomed. Sho lifted his face and smiled. It was a party. He would try to have fun, and whatever happened he would be fine with it. It was an adventure!

***

Nino tried to adjust the tuxedo’s uncomfortable jacket for the thousand time. As he had expected, it was a bit too big for him. Not that it looked ridiculous or anything, it kind of suit him, but that didn’t change the fact that it was one or two sizes big. Before entering the venue he did a mental check: creature locked in the room. Room locked verifications three times made. Tuxedo. Envelope (in case it was needed). He had even combed his hair with care. Okay, ready.

Nino got close to the double door and waited until one of the event staff opened it for him after checking his name.

“Mr. Matsumoto, welcome to the venue. We hope you have a pleasant soirée” a woman said in a soft voice.

Nino swallowed, feeling terribly guilty for using someone else’s identity. He faked a smile and bowed slightly. There was no way he could withdraw now. The life of the creature was at stake. If he had to pretend he was the rich Matsumoto Jun for a couple of days to save it, then, he would become Matsumoto Jun. There was no turning back now.

Trying to look calm, Nino took a firm first step forward and entered the venue. His plan was to stay there for no longer than an hour, excuse himself, and go back to the room with the creature.

A piece of cake.

Minutes seemed hours. A lot of people in fancy dresses and suits drinking from tall glasses and chitchatting as they were having the time of their lives. And there was Nino, alone by one of the long tables not knowing who to approach first. Everyone seemed to know each other from before, or to be already lost in an interesting conversation with someone, or to have too much interest in free food. There was just too many people. And besides, what could he possibly talk about? Alien creatures and identity theft? It didn’t seem a trending topic for those kind of events. Nino leaned against the wall while biting a cracker lost in his thoughts about the creature when, suddenly, he saw something that put him on the alert. He stood still with his cracker half way through his mouth.

No. It couldn’t be.

Then he saw it again. There, in the back of the room. People were getting in the way so he couldn’t be completely sure, but he would have sworn he just saw… There it was again! Nino’s muscles tensed all at once as he felt sweat running down his nape. It couldn’t be, he had locked the room with great care. The creature couldn’t have possibly escaped. It had to be something else. Trying to look calmed and natural, Nino began to approach the other side of the venue. He felt a deja vu. It looked just as if he was always trying to make his way through a crowd of people. When he reached the centre of the room, a waiter cut his way.

“Anything to drink, Sir? Champagne, wine, cocktails? Anything not on the tray? I can prepare you anything. Just ask”

“No, I’m fine, thank you” He said in a quick voice trying to get rid of the annoying waiter.

“But I highly recommend you the Special Sami the Third cocktail made out of real strawberries and…”

“Is this one?” Nino asked impatiently pointing at a random glass on the tray as he saw yet again on the corner of his eye something small moving fast under the long table in the back of the room.

“Exactly. The cocktail was a…”

“I’ll take it. Thank you. Now, if you excuse me” Nino grabbed the five-coloured cocktail from the tray and entered the crowd as if in a big hurry. In which he actually was. Because now he knew for sure that the creature had indeed escaped the suite. Who knew how! And right then it was in that very venue, feasting on canapés. He had to take it out the venue before anyone else noticed. Even if he had no idea how he was going to manage that in a room full of people. Nino rose his Special Sami the Third cocktail and drank it in one swallow. He had to be fast.

Nino left the empty glass on a passing tray as soon as he spotted the creature again. It was behind the long table on the right. He could see its little hand grabbing crackers and olives and taking them under the table. It was his chance. Not taking his eyes away from the spot he had seen the creature’s hand, Nino speeded in that direction, dodging suits and dresses. He was almost there when suddenly a pair of wide shoulders got in his way and made him collide with them with his whole body.

“Excuse me” he blabbered and bowed while searching frenetically for the little creature’s hand on the table. Nino had lost sight of it when colliding with the wide shoulders’ man. Nino felt a shiver. He didn’t see the creature. He had to find it before anyone else did! Nino left the man behind and hurried to the long table where he had last seen the creature.

***

Sho was bored. Not that he hadn’t tried to talk to the people there, but it was just that the conversation bored him. Mostly they asked him about his job, where he lived, what kind of personal ship he owned, how much he earned a year, and so on. More than a party, it felt like an interview. He was running away from a particularly meddling young man in velvet when suddenly someone hit him from behind, making the glass of white wine Sho was carrying spill all over his chest. Really? Sho turned around to face the cause of the incident only to see a pair of sharp eyes fixed somewhere else, while its owner phrased an absentminded apology before hurrying to the tables at the back of the room.

For a moment, Sho didn’t know what to do. There he was, soaking, standing still like a statue in the middle of the venue, and now something he couldn’t get out of his mind. There had been something strange about the sharp eyes man. In a room full of relaxed people flirting, he looked like running away from something or someone. Sho looked around but he didn’t see anyone even looking in that man’s direction. Then he turned around at once. No. The man with sharp eyes wasn’t running away from anyone, he rather looked as if he was the one chasing something. Sho searched for him in the crowd.

“At last, someone interesting” He smiled.

 

~4~

Nino reached the table on the back and stopped suddenly just in front of it. He took a look around to make sure no-one was looking his way and, as soon as he verified it was safe to duck, he only needed half a second to get on his knees and look under the table. He lifted the tablecloth and stuck his head in. Nothing on the right. He turned his head to the left. Had he just seen the end of a tail?! Damn it! Nino stuck his head out from the tablecloth and stood up. And as soon as he did so, he found himself face to face with the annoying waiter’s face.

“Everything all right, Sir? Have you lost anything? Could I be of any help? We are here to make your evening as pleasant as possible, not only to serve cocktails” He smiled with inquisitive eyes.

Nino was having enough of that waiter already. He was growing anxious by the moment, knowing the creature was there. Then, when he thought nothing could go even worse, he saw on the corner of his eye the little creature’s hand grabbing a piece of cake right behind him. Terrified, Nino tried to move a step to the right covering it with his body so the waiter didn’t see the creature’s hand as well, but the waiter moved along with him. What a careless creature! And so had been him. He should have checked the suite’s door at least one more time. Or ten! The starship was in Space, but that didn’t mean he and the creature were safe. If anyone discovered he had stolen a creature from the Central Planet’s greatest zoo to free it somewhere else… it wouldn’t end pretty. Nor for him, nor for the creature.

He had to do something.

“Sir, you look pale. Is there anything wrong?” That annoying waiter again.

He was becoming too insistent for Nino’s peace of mind. Then, horrified, Nino saw how the waiter’s eyes began to follow the direction in which Nino had been turning his gaze to the whole time. He really had to do something or the waiter would see the little hand!

“Is something wrong with the food?” The waiter began to ask.

Nino was about to jump in front of him if needed, when suddenly someone interrupted them.

“Excuse me” said a self-confident voice. “May I have one of those Starlight Kiss cocktails, please? I’ve been told that the barman of this ships makes the best cocktails of the whole System”

Nino couldn’t take his eyes away from the man who had spoken. He was taller than him, had big shiny eyes and thick lips. His face had a perfect balance between angularity and beauty, if they asked him. But what had the greatest impact on Nino was the fact that he would have sworn he had just seen the man looking in the creature’s hand direction, and then at Nino’s eyes before efficiently getting rid of the waiter. Nino swallowed. That man had seen it. He was sure of it. Then, why hadn’t he reported them to the waiter?

Nino waited until the waiter was gone. He wanted to say something, anything! But he couldn’t think of a single thing to say in that situation. The handsome man got close to him and leaned on the table right in front where the creature’s hand was popping up now and then, as if trying to hide it from the rest of those present in the venue with his own body.

“You’ve spoiled my only formal shirt, just so you know” He said in a calm and, Nino thought, playful voice.

Nino took a quick look at the man’s shirt and saw it was completely soaked on the front. Then he remembered those wide shoulders he had run into when rushing to the table on the back of the room. It was his fault!

“I’m sorry… I didn’t… I’ll pay for the…”

“Forget that” The stranger interrupted him. “It’s a luxury cruise. They’ll clean it”

Nino remained silent, not sure about how much that man had seen of the creature, or if he had seen in at all.

“So. What’s your plan?” The man asked all of a sudden.

Nino jumped on his feet. As he had imagined, he had seen the creature’s hand.

“Are you going to report me?” Nino asked in a defiant tone despite his disadvantageous position at that moment.

“No. I’m going to help you”

Taken by surprise, Nino turned around to the stranger, his eyes wide open.

“Eh… Why?”

The man smiled briefly and looked at Nino sideways. He was a very attractive man, a really, really attractive man.

“First, let’s take your pet out of here. Then, you can explain the details to me” He sounded firm and somehow, reassuring. Nino wasn’t sure it was a good idea trusting that man, but, what else could he do in a situation like that? He decided to bet on the stranger.

***

The plan was simple. First, while Nino tried to catch the creature, Sho would make sure no-one noticed. Then, Nino would hide the creature under his loose jacket and walk sticking very close to Sho’s back, who will try to hide Nino and the creature altogether until they were out of the venue, safe and unnoticed.

Catching the creature was easy. Getting out unnoticed, that was the hard part. Nino kept himself very close to the stranger’s shoulders while wrapping his jacket around the mischievous creature.

“By the way” Nino heard the stranger say all of a sudden. “My name is Sho”.

Sho, Nino repeated inside his head. Nice name.

“I’m K…”

Wait! No! What was Matsumoto’s name? Jay? No… Ah!

“I’m Jun”. Nino corrected himself in time.

“Nice to meet you”. Nino could hear a double meaning in that. “Careful, waiter at two”

Nino saw the waiter and turned the other way around to hide the bulk in his hands from him. As it seemed, the stranger had quite a sense of discretion and fast reflexes.

The way out the venue was tricky. But Sho’s plan, however risky, did work out. And before Nino could realise it, they were already on the cruise corridors where much less people were passing by.

“Come on. We have to hide it before anyone see it. Where did you keep it?” Sho asked fast while keeping watch.

“I had it in my room”

Sho stared at the stranger sideways for a second, as if he was suspicious of something. Nino didn’t know what to expect from that man. A man who had helped him without knowing what was going on. In fact, Nino felt tempted to be the one suspecting the stranger instead.

Still feeling watched, Nino decided it’d be better to think about that later. The priority was to put the creature in a safe place. He’ll have time to suspect all he wanted after that. So, once again, thanks to Sho’s help, they managed to reach the suite unseen and safe. After securing the lock on the door, Nino opened his jacket and freed the creature. It run freely around the room, jumping and chirping as if it had had the best time of its life.

“You better not be so happy. I’m mad at you, you hear me?” Nino grumbled.

The creature ignored him and went to jump happily on the bed. Nino sighed and sat on the red sofa, feeling completely exhausted. And it was then, when he closed his eyes for a second, when someone else cleared his throat behind him. Sho. Nino turned around, his eyes filled with insecurity about what was to come next. Unable to move, Nino watched the elegant man walking around the sofa to go sit right in front of him, on a chair he had dragged from the wooden table by the window. The stranger sat on it, his eyes fixed on Nino’s.

He wanted answers.

Sho looked briefly at the jumping creature before staring back at Nino.

“I think you owe me an explanation” He said in a calm voice.

Nino felt trapped. He had to make up something, and quick!

“It’s my pet” He answered maybe too fast to make it feel natural.

Sho rose his eyebrows in disbelief.

“Is that so? And what’s its name?”

Nino couldn’t think of any. His mind was like a white piece of paper. His lips moved before he could think.

“Pet”

Sho frowned for a second, then he made an amused face.

“Your pet is called Pet” Sho tried to verify still in disbelief.

Nino nodded feeling stupid.

“I’m not good at choosing names” Nino’s voice sounded highly insecure.

Sho took a deep breath and dragged the chair closer to Nino.

“You’re going to have to do it better. Jun”

 

~5~

Nino felt trapped by the stranger’s eyes. He didn’t want to lie, but he wasn’t going to tell him the truth just like that. It was way too soon to know if Sho could be trusted or not. It was better to be overcareful than too careless. Nino took a deep breath and stared back at Sho.

“Okay. I know it’s not the most original pet name ever, but honestly, I couldn’t think of anything better. I know it sounds stupid. And I know I shouldn’t have brought Pet on board… As naughty as it is… But I thought it would be all right if I locked the door”. Nino made a pause, looking at Sho with innocent eyes. “I should’ve known better”.

Something in Sho’s eyes told Nino he hadn’t believed a single word he had said. But, surprisingly, Sho didn’t say anything about it. He just stood up and returned the chair to the wooden table.

“It’s late. I should go back to my room. If you want my advice, you should be more careful from now on. I don’t know what you’re doing with… Pet here, but, for its sake, be cautious”.

Sho’s voice sounded so serious that Nino didn’t dare to move. Sat as he was, he followed Sho’s movements with his eyes, from the large window to the main door. Sho grabbed the knob and, before opening, he turned his head only showing Nino his profile.

“If you happen to be in trouble again, I’m on room 302”. And without adding anything else, Sho left the room, leaving Nino astonished and Pet jumping off the bed. As soon as the door closed behind the man, Pet ran to it and started chirping non-stop. That alarmed Nino, who rushed to take Pet away from the door.

“Shush. Quiet, quiet. Someone could hear you. We’ve got to be extra cautious now”.

Pet looked at Nino with big watery eyes and chirped in a low voice.

“What’s the matter? Are you hungry? After all you’ve eaten!”

The creature seemed to cheer a bit again, so Nino understood that as a yes.

“Come on, little guy. I have your food here”, he said while walking towards the bag he had left on the bar’s counter. He took a dish out of it and filled it with strange looking food that the creature devoured happily. Nino stared at Pet in silence, thinking about what he had just done. And for the first time since he had stolen the creature from the zoo, he caressed its back softly.

“Everything it’s going to be okay. Just wait a little more”.

***

Nino woke up in the almost complete darkness of the room. It was late. The large window opened to the starry sky from that part of the galaxy, showing a magnificent but lonely view. Nino felt tired, very tired. And even so, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep again. He didn’t know what, but there was something bothering him. Something wasn’t quite right. Finally, he gave up and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling until his eyes grew used to the starry light. Silence was so deep that he found in hard to relax. The feeling he had about something going wrong increased. What was it? The room was empty, in silence, calm and… Nino sat on the bed at once. Wait a moment.

Empty.

Nino turned on the lights and looked around, fear growing inside of him. He searched the room, the bathroom, and even the wardrobe. Pet wasn’t anywhere to be seen!

He checked the main door. It was closed. The bar, empty. He turned on all the lights and searched every corner of the room. Until he found the air conduit grille out of its place.

“Shit!” He cursed.

The hole was big enough to fit the creature. Which meant that Pet could be anywhere on the starship. If he didn’t hurry… Nino put on a robe and left the suite in a whisper. He had to find Pet before anyone else saw it and began to ask questions. Nino panted, not knowing which way to go. Maybe the venue again? He went down the stairs and peeked before storming the room. But there was nobody there. He tiptoed to the double door and opened it just enough to fit his thin body in. Once inside he closed the door and searched everywhere.

Pet wasn’t there either.

His heart pounded wildly. Where could the creature be? And how in the world was he going to find it?

Think, think, think. I won’t find it like this, alone…

Then a well-balanced face of an attractive stranger popped on his mind. That was it. Room 302, he repeated in his mind. He left the room and headed to the stairs again.

A few minutes later he was in front of Room 302. Knowing it was way too late to knock on someone else’s door, Nino lifted his left hand and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. But I have nobody else” he whispered to the empty corridor before knocking three times.

Nino was thinking how long it would be appropriate to wait before knocking again, when suddenly the door opened without a sound. Sho was wearing a black tank top and white comfy pants. His exposed brawny arms and his natural hair gave him a manly look not easy to overlook.

“I was waiting for you” He said in a low voice making Nino’s heart skip a beat. For a moment, Nino forgot how to breathe.

Sho checked the corridor and opened the door so Nino could enter the room.

“Come in”. Sho’s voice was luring as hell.

Nino shook his head.

“Sho, I need your help!” Nino sounded desperate. “It’s gone!”

Sho shushed at Nino and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him inside the room and closing the door behind him.

“Jun, calm down and listen to me. I don’t want you to get mad”

“But Pet!”

“Pet is here”.

Those three words made all of Nino’s defences fall at once. He felt relief, and gratitude; embarrassment, and guilt. And the wish to hug that beautiful stranger right there as soon as he stepped aside and showed him the creature sleeping peacefully on Sho’s pillow. Nino sighed in relief, resting his head against the wall.

“That critter is going to kill me” Nino moaned.

“I don’t know how Pet managed to get here. I closed the door and…”

“That won’t do. I found out his escape way” Nino stared at Sho from the corner of the eye. “He used the damned air conduits”

Sho wanted to yell something like ‘Naughty creature!’, but he was unable to take his eyes away from those sharp and luring eyes Jun had. Sho cleared his throat and averted his eyes with great difficulty. That man was on the single’s event, like him, but the more Sho looked at him and his behaviour, the more he was sure that Jun hadn’t boarded the cruise for that reason. Sho didn’t know why. He just… Whatever the reason, what Sho wished was for Jun to be there for the same reason he was: to look for a partner. Because, as a matter of fact, Sho happened to like that man. Quite a lot, in fact. He liked his eyes, his fair face, his voice; he liked the mystery surrounding him, his lies to protect the creature, even if Sho didn’t know what from. But above all, he liked the way Jun made him feel. It wasn’t a mere  physical attraction, it was a genuine interest in him. Sho sighed. Too bad Jun’s motivation lied somewhere else. A real pity. Because, now that he had met Jun, Sho had no interest whatsoever in getting to know anyone else on that single’s event thing.

“We’ll have to be more cautious from now on” Sho said as he realised he had been silent for too long. “Sorry for not letting you know. I didn’t know how to contact you, and I didn’t want to risk the creature escaping again, nor could I take it out the room with me. I thought that staying here was the best choice. I believed that, sooner or later, you would come”.

And he was right, Nino thought.

“You did what was best. Thank you for taking care of Pet. And for not reporting us…”

Sho smiled with warm eyes.

“Don’t worry, Jun. Believe me, I’m won’t report you”

 

~6~

After the fright Pet had given Nino, it was time to bring it back to his suite. Or well, to Mr. Matsumoto Jun’s suite, actually. Nino barely knew Sho for a few hours, but he had grown fond of him. Therefore, it had begun to bother him every time Sho called him Jun.

Sho was kindness made man. And precisely because Sho had helped him twice that day, not knowing him or his reasons to hide Pet, nor asking for anything in return, precisely for that, Nino felt his lie as a heavy growing weight over his shoulders. Even so, Nino was full of doubts and fears. What if he told Sho the truth and he did report him? What if Sho despised him for lying to him when he was only trying to help? What if when Sho knew the truth he treated him as a vulgar animal kidnapper? What if…? Nino mind was pure chaos. There were only two days left before the cruise docked. Nino’s plan was to disembark there with the creature, and rent a small personal ship so he could take Pet to his mother planet and free it. Nino glanced at Sho. Pet was cuddling on Sho’s lap, making purr-like noises, happy to have that comfy human tapping his head softly. Then, it occurred to Nino.

“I think Pet likes you best” Nino smiled. “When did it come to your room?” What Nino wanted to know was if the creature had gone straight to Sho’s room, because if it was so, then how did he know where to find him? Did Pet understand what numbers meant? Had it find him for his smell?

“I couldn’t tell. I was sleeping when I felt something warm against my head. I woke up at once and turned on the lights, completely taken by surprise. Then I saw Pet, making itself at home on my pillow! I think it was about 2 a.m.”

“As I imagined” Nino sighed.

Sho tilted his head, not knowing what Nino meant by that.

“I went to sleep at around 1:40, and when I woke up at 2, Pet was already gone. Which means that this little devil waited until I was asleep to escape again. Also meaning that Pet’s target was you. What I don’t understand is how…”

“Black-sand Dragons have an outstanding sense of smell” Sho said looking at Nino with a playful smirk on his face.

Nino looked surprised.

“How do you…?”

Sho didn’t answer. He just smiled enigmatically at Nino and scratched Pet behind the ears.

“So. What are you going to do now?” Sho asked pointing at the creature. “I can help you to take back Pet to your room, if you want”

There was no way Nino was going to say no to that offer. He had spent the last minutes feeling unable to take his eyes away from Sho and Pet. Specially from Sho.

There was something special about Sho. His actions, his good sense, the feeling of safety Nino had when he was by his side. Even silence felt comfortable when shared with him. That had never happened to him before. Nino remembered the single’s event, and for a second, he wished he was on that cruise for that very reason. Because that way, maybe, Sho and him… No. What was he thinking? He was there only because he had stolen someone else’s boarding ticket, because he had to run away with a stolen creature. Even if it was to save it from a life of misery and loneliness, a theft was still a theft. Two thefts, in Nino’s case. He had met Sho only by pure chance. He didn’t deserve his company. He wasn’t meant for him. Nino stood up and stretched his arms on his back.

“Well then, I think I’ve bothered you enough for tonight. I suppose you can’t wait for me to leave you alone to get some sleep. Sorry for all the trouble. I’ll take Pet and…”

“You don’t bother me” Sho rushed to reply. “Don’t worry about that”. Sho lifted the sleeping creature and gave it to Nino, then he put on a sweater and gave another one to Nino. “You can cover Pet with this. Come on. I’ll guard your back”

Nino and Sho got out the room after making sure they were alone on the corridor. They thought the worse had passed while walking in complete silence to the main stairs, when unexpectedly they saw a ray of light just about to turn on the corner right in front of them. The security guard!

“What do we do now?” Nino asked in panic. “If he sees Pet we’re done for good”.

Sho looked around and saw the emergency stairs door right behind them. Without a second thought nor wasting even a second in explanations, Sho grabbed Nino by the arm and dragged him to the emergency stairs, closing the door behind them just in time before the ray of light reached the corridor. Everything had happened so fast that Nino was about to complain, but Sho put a hand over his lips while cornering him against the wall. Only the sleeping creature was between Sho’s body and his. Sho shushed in a really low voice. On the other side of the door, Nino heard footsteps. He looked at Sho in terror.

“It’s okay. I don’t think the guard has seen us” Sho whispered in a reassuring voice. His face was so close to Nino’s that he had to make great efforts not to decrease the distance between the two of them. Nino felt his heart beating fast. Sho was tempting as ever. There, in the semi-light of the emergency stair’s exit, between the wall and Sho, holding their breath while hiding from the guard, seeing Sho’s lips only a few centimetres away from his. Nino’s legs began to shiver. The danger of the situation. The intimate closeness. Nino found it hard to remain calm for much longer.

Suddenly, Pet chirped in his dream. In the empty staircase space, its sound echoed louder than expected. Nino tensed his muscles and went back to reality. The footsteps from before where coming back.

“Is there anyone there?” A deep voice asked from the other side of the door.

Nino looked at Sho in complete fear. But Sho wasn’t going to give up so easily. He put his hands around the sweater in which the creature hid, touching Nino’s fingers while doing so.

“Escape using these stairs. Run and don’t look back” Sho whispered, barely a few centimetres away from Nino’s ear. “Don’t worry. Leave it to me”, Sho smiled at him.

Then Nino felt Sho’s hand opening the left pocket of Nino’s trousers.

“Here’s my number. Send me a message as soon as you get to your room safely with Pet”

Nino nodded, beginning to tremble as he heard the guard’s footsteps right at the other side of the door.

“Now, run!”

“Thank you” Nino said without making a sound while heading up the stairs, desperately holding Pet against his chest.

As soon as Nino turned the first landing, Sho opened the emergency door and feigned being surprised to find someone at the other side of it.

“Ah!” Sho screamed. Then, “Oh! Thank goodness! You’re a guard, right? You gave me a fright! This ship is a complete labyrinth!” Sho could clearly see how the expression in the guard’s face changed from suspicion to plain annoyance.

“Are you lost, Sir?” The guard asked in an atonal voice.

“I was trying to go to the observatory deck, and then a got lost. So I gave up and tried to get back to my room. Is this the third floor?” Sho played the fool like a master.

“The third deck, yes, Sir” The guard stared at him, still not buying Sho’s acting a hundred per cent. “Excuse me, Sir, if you would be so kind to tell me your name and your room, I could escort you back to it”.

Got you! Sho smiled internally. What he wanted was to get the guard away from the stairs and from Jun’s track.

“That would be of great help, thank you! I’m Sakurai Sho, from room 302” He answered obediently.

The guard checked something on his personal tablet and nodded, completely changing his behaviour while doing so. Out of a sudden he became the vivid image of courtesy. And in less than five minutes Sho was already inside his room, alone and out of any suspicion.

Once there, Sho’s soft expression vanished. His eyes sharpened and his smile disappeared. He took the sweater off and throw it over the only chair in his room. He sat on it and took his tablet out of the bag in which he had hid it when Jun had knocked on his room before. Sho unlocked the tablet and continued reading the information he had been digging into since he had seen the Black-sand Dragon for the first time, as well as some other things… His facial expression was that of pure concentration and interest. What he was reading enlightened a few dark corners in Jun’s story. After reading a very interesting article on Black-sand Dragons, he searched for a different piece of information about something that had been bothering him since the event. He had just found what he was looking for when suddenly his phone rang once, startling him. Sho rubbed his eyes and reached for the phone, tapping on the new message.

Mission accomplished!
We’ve reached the room unnoticed. Thanks to you.
I’m not even joking. I’m truly grateful to you. More than what you can imagine.
And I’m sorry to have involved you in all this madness.
Are you okay?
I’ve secured the air conduit and checked the one in the bathroom. It’s so small that it would be impossible for Pet to get through it, so I’ve improvised a bed on the bathtub using some pillows and left Pet sleeping there. I don’t think it would run away again.
Sorry for the trouble, and really, thank you.

Nino re-read the message he had sent Sho for the third time. His hands were still shaking. He took a deep breath and left the phone on the table. The message was already sent, so his heart could beat as fast as it wanted, there was no turning back now. He let his neck hit the sofa’s back and stared at the ceiling. His whole body was still trembling. That moment on the staircase, Sho’s face had been so close to his that he had almost… but no. Nino sat up, leaning his elbows over his knees. No. He was a liar. And a thief. He didn’t deserve someone like Sho. Nino wished he was Matsumoto Jun. Nino wished he had booked that room to take part in the single’s event, where Sho would appear walking out of the crowd, searching for him, with two cocktails on his hands and a dazzling smile on his lips. Nino closed his eyes and laughed bitterly. What a stupid dream. There was no way that could have ever happened. Even if he hadn’t kidnapped Pet, he could have never afforded a passage in that cruise. So, in a way, if it hadn’t been for Pet and for Matsumoto Jun, he would have never met Sho.

Nino lied on the sofa and stared at the starry sky.

He should be grateful for that. Even if that encounter was filled with lies and meant to end in two days. Nino closed his eyes ready to sleep when his phone vibrated once. He reached for it and unlocked it. It was a message. A message from Sho!

Good job to both of you!
I’m fine, the guard was a piece of cake.
You should rest now.

Nino thought that was it, but then he noticed a scroll bar. He scrolled down the message until he reached its bottom. His hart skipped a beat and his stomach tickled as he read the las three words.

See you tomorrow.

 

~7~

The next morning, the first thing Nino did was to re-read Sho’s message. Maybe he had to leave the next day and never see Sho again, but, in the meantime, he was allowed to daydream, right? Nino smiled and woke up to check on Pet. It was already jumping on the pillows in the bathtub and, as soon as it saw Nino, it jumped into his arms chirping.

“Good morning to you too” Nino smiled. “Come on. It’s breakfast time!”

***

Two decks below the suite, Sho was having trouble to wake up. He was so sleepy that he was even considering to skip breakfast. Then his face popped on his mind. Well, he could as well do the effort of waking up and having breakfast with everyone else. Sho cleared his throat and woke up, had a quick shower and got dressed. And while doing all those things, only one thing was on his mind. Only one pair of sharp and beautiful eyes.

When Sho got to the restaurant he spotted Nino right away. He was sitting on a stool facing a large window, watching the stars while chewing a toast. Nino was lost in his thoughts and so Sho made the most of that rare chance in which he could look at him without being caught. After what he had discovered the night before he found him even more interesting. Sho grabbed a dish and began to fill it with all kind of sweets, smiling each time he took his eyes away from the food and fixed them on Nino’s back. He had wider shoulders than he seemed to when seen from a short distance. Small hands and feet. Black hair and fair skin. Sho thought that he could never get bored of his features. Sho’s facial expression changed in an instant. If only they had met in other circumstances.

Sho asked for a cup of coffee and put it beside his dish filled with sweets on a tray, then he went straight to sit beside mister sharp eyes.

“Good morning” Sho greeted in a cheerful voice.

“Oh, good morning Sho” Nino’s expression, until that very moment pensive and dark, changed immediately to show a wide smile and arched eyes.

Sho was melting inside.

“So, did we have new frights this morning?” Sho tempted.

“None, thank goodness!” Nino sighed in relief, then lowered the tone of his voice. “Pet was exactly where I left it yesterday night”.

“Good, then” Sho smiled.

Nino surrounded his almost empty cup of tea with his hands, nervous. He had decided he would tell Sho the truth, it was just that he had no idea how he was going to do so.

“Sho…”

“Hey, do you feel like exploring the cruise a bit after breakfast?” Sho’s question drown Nino’s voice.

“Eh…? Sure” Nino checked the big clock hanging from the ceiling. “I don’t have to feed it again until four”.

“Then, exploration it is!”

After breakfast. Nino and Sho left the restaurant and checked the information panel on the cruise entrance. The cruise entertainments included shows, movies, games, and so on. There was so much going on that the hardest part would be to choose one. Finally, both decided to go see a magician on the lower deck, then go on a walk through the enchanted passage, whatever that may be, and then, maybe, go to see an old movie at the cinema.

Sho was having the time of his life. He didn’t notice that Nino was having as much as fun as him. Nor that Nino’s heart beat just as fast as Sho’s did every time their arms touched, or every time they shared a look. The magician tricks were exciting, but nothing compared to the closeness of their faces to comment each one of the tricks in a low voice. Nino didn’t need much to realise he loved the sound of Sho’s voice whispering near his ear. It made him tremble from head to toe every time. Meanwhile, Sho found it harder every-time he had to take his eyes away from Nino. He loved his sharp and intelligent comments, his fast way of thinking, his choice of words, the way his lips smiled in a dozen different ways. Rather than the magician, it was Nino who Sho found hypnotic.

After the show, they walked the enchanted passage, which was nothing but a recreation of landscapes from distant planets. It was fun to see, no doubt of it, but being in the company of the other, none of them paid much attention to the landscapes they were being shown. Instead, they used the walk to talk about everything and nothing. They shared some funny stories or talked about the creatures in this or that planet as they changed from one landscape to another.

But not everything was idyllic.

Because each minute Nino spent with Sho, he felt like the worst person in the entire Universe for keeping on lying to such an amazing man. Nino went silent. He had to tell Sho the truth. Sho didn’t deserved to be lied to.

Nino had made up his mind when they reached the end of the walk.

“Sho…”

“Wow! It’s this late?!” Sho exclaimed, drowning Nino’s voice once again. “It’s almost four! Time really does fly!”

Nino checked the time and sighed in resignation, realising he’d have to postpone the truth for later. Again.

“It does” Nino said in a reedy voice. “I have to go feed Pet and check if it’s all right”.

Sho nodded. Nino gave him a sad smile and turned around to the elevators ready to go. Sho’s voice reached him again.

“Hey… See you later? At dinner?”

Nino turned around, nodded and smiled widely as an answer. Then, he entered the elevator and disappeared.

Sho remained in front of the closed golden doors just for a few more minutes. It was as if from the moment those sharp eyes were gone, his loneliness had come back all at once. He put his hands in his pocket and turned around to face the enchanted passage. He needed to think, and the passage seemed like the perfect place to do so.

***

Pet was fine and exactly where Nino had left it before going down to have breakfast. It was curled up on a violet pillow on the bathtub. Nino got closer to wake it up and feed it, but his hand stopped midway. Was it him or the creature had grown bigger since he had saved it from its destiny at the zoo? Nino frowned preoccupied. There was no time for doubting, no time for daydreaming, and absolutely no way of postponing Pet’s liberation on its mother-planet. Time was running out. If the creature kept growing it wouldn’t be easy to take it out on the open unnoticed, which led to a worst-case scenario: being caught, Nino put to jail, and Pet back to the zoo. And he could by no means let that happen.

Nino decided it was time to tell Sho everything, because this time, it was farewell. Nino was leaving the next day early in the morning. His plan was to rent a one-person ship and fly as fast as he could to Pet’s planet. And Nino wasn’t going to change his plans, no matter how sad he felt, not even for Sho. But what he could do, was to tell him the truth before disappearing from his life. He owed Sho at least that.

Nino bit his lower lip and woke up Pet. I do all this for you, he thought. You deserve to live a long life among your kind, in freedom. Pet opened its eyes and made a purr-like sound when it saw Nino. Pet knew it was lunch time. It jumped in Nino’s arm and let him carry it close to his chest. Nino prepared the food for Pet and sat on the sofa once it was done. He was about to call room service to order a quick lunch, but truth was he wasn’t hungry. Instead, he packed up all his things, leaving out only a pair of trousers and a long t-shirt for the next day in the morning. Meanwhile, he put on a pair of dark trousers and a white simple t-shit belonging to Matsumoto Jun. He was sorry for him, but he had to use Mr. Matsumoto’s unconscious generosity just for one more night. He hoped Mr. Matsumoto showed up the next day asking for his room and suitcase when he was already gone and on a one-person ship. It was the suite Mr. Matsumoto had paid for, so it would be a pity if he didn’t get to enjoy it at least for the rest of the trip. Even if the fault of Mr. Matsumoto being left on land was only and exclusively Nino’s. Well, it would teach the rich man a precious lesson: don’t trust the first stranger you find in a crowd.

Pet finished its meal and Nino cleaned after it. He let it run free for a few hours around the room, until it was time for dinner. Nino wanted to meet Sho one last time.

Sho.

Nino sighed and observed Pet having fun.

Sho.

***

It was frustrating, but soon enough Nino found out that the dinner was part of the single’s event in which Mr. Matsumoto was participating. Which meant a lot of sit changing, a lot of chitchat with strangers, and very little of time with Sho, let aside any privacy whatsoever. Once again, he was compelled to postpone his confession.

Nino postponed it until the desserts were served, but then the venue became even crowded. People had drunk too much by then as well. Impossible to talk to Sho in private.

Then, Nino postponed it until the event had finished, but then music started to play and trays filled with alcoholic drinks began to fly all around the room. It was hopeless. It became so crowded and lively that he soon lost sight of where Sho was. People talking to him, asking him questions, inviting him to what already were payed drinks, propositions, unwanted touches.

Nino had had enough.

He gave up. Maybe he could send a message later to Sho to meet up for a minute, even if in the middle of the night. Provided… Sho was spending the night alone. Nino felt a sudden flame rise inside his chest. He had no right to wish the opposite. After all, Sho was there because of that single’s event, and he had no right to get in his way.

Nino left the party and took a long walk before going back to his room. He needed to cool off and stay calm. He knew what he was getting into when he stole that rich passenger’s boarding ticket. Or at least, mostly. He didn’t have the right to be on that luxury cruise for a start. And truth was he wasn’t meant to meet anyone. He wasn’t meant to fall for anyone. It took him a long hour to calm down and to see things in perspective again. Once he felt ready to continue with his plan, he went back to his room.

It was past midnight. He closed the door and walked straight to the bathroom to check on Pet when suddenly his whole body froze.

A bunch of clean towels where lying on the bed. Someone had entered the room while he was away. He walked pass the bed and held his breath.

The bathroom’s door was open.

The creature, gone.

 

~8~

Nino got out of his room and run down the stairs to deck number three. He felt a growing headache and his legs trembled as soon as he reached Sho’s room. He hesitated for a second before knocking on it, wishing with all his might for Sho to be alone in the room, with Pet on his lap.

When Sho opened the door, Nino rushed inside searching the room in desperation.

“Please, tell me it’s with you”

Sho grabbed Nino by both shoulders and made him face him.

“Calm down. What happened?” Sho asked in a reassuring voice while looking at Nino in the eye.

“He’s gone!”

Sho opened his eyes widely.

“The air conduit again?”

“No. Not this time. When I got to my room there were clean towels on the bed and the bathroom’s door was open. The bellboy must’ve entered while I was away” Nino’s voice trembled in panic.

“Do you think he may have seen Pet?”

Nino denied.

“I don’t know… I just… I thought Pet might have come to your room, but if Pet isn’t here, then, maybe…” Nino met Sho’s eyes. “What if he had been taken away?”

Sho posed his hands over Nino’s neck and cheeks and got him closer, trying to calm him down. Then, in a soft tone, he asked him.

“Do you know who is in charge of your deck?”

Nino was about to deny again when suddenly he remembered a warm wide smile.

“Yes! I met him yesterday before the event. His name is… Aiba! That’s it, Aiba Masaki” Nino glanced furtively at Sho’s lips. He was so close he could almost hear him breathing. Right then Sho stepped back.

“All right then. Let’s go have a little chat with Aiba Masaki. We can panic later. Come on” Sho gently pushed Nino from behind and guided him out of his room, then not taking away the hand he had left barely touching Nino’s waist all the way up the fifth floor. When they got to Aiba’s workplace, they found him singing a popular song while reading a sports magazine. As soon as the bellboy saw Nino, he stood up at once and adopted a professional pose, hiding the magazine between his back.

“Mr. Matsumoto! Can I help you with anything?”

Sho and Nino looked sideways to one another.

“Good evening, Mr. Aiba. I’ve found the door of my room opened when I went back after the dinner party. Do you know anything about that?” Nino lied.

“Oh! Is that so! I am so sorry, Sir. It must have been me. How careless of me! I thought I had locked it…” Nino actually knew Aiba had. “I beg your pardon. I entered about ten o’clock to change the towels. I must have forgotten to lock the door on my way out. Is there anything missing?”

Nino tried hard to not let his relief come to the surface.

“No, no. I just thought it was strange, because I remember I locked the door when leaving the room for dinner” Nino added.

“And locked it was when I got there, Sir”

Sho smiled. Nice played, he thought. With only those few question, now they knew that only Aiba had entered the suite, and that the creature most probably had escaped then, which also meant that nobody else had seen it. At least, not inside the suite.

They ended their chat with Aiba and went back to the suite to check it again, but as they already knew, Pet wasn’t there. Walking up and down the room, both tried to think where to search for Pet. If it wasn’t in Sho’s room, where could it possibly be?

“What about the party? The first time it went there” Sho suggested.

“That time I made a mistake measuring its food, and it must had been hungry. I’ve feed it well enough after that. No, I don’t think Pet’s on the party”

“What else does Pet like?”

Who knows? was the first thing that came to Nino’s mind. Wait!

“It likes jumping and open spaces. Also, it was really happy when I improvised its bed inside the bathtub”

Like a lightning, Nino and Sho’s eyes met at once.

“The pool!” Both exclaimed in unison.

It was worth betting on that. The pool was closed at night, it was inside an enormous room, and it obviously looked like a gigantic bathtub.

There was no time to waste.

Even before they clandestinely entered the pool room, they could hear chirps, purrs and splashes. Nino took a deep breath.

“It’s here” He smiled at Sho.

Sho nodded and opened the door with great care. They didn’t want to startle the creature and provoke it to run away again. But those creatures had incredible developed hearing, so Pet noticed their presence even before they entered the room. When Pet saw Nino, and especially when it saw Sho, it started jumping in the water frenetically, happily and loudly. Sho rushed to close the door behind them and, surrounding the pool, both got closer to the creature.

“Come on, Pet. Come here” Nino said stretching his arms towards it.

“Pet, honey. Who is the most beautiful creature?” Said Sho in a singing cute voice, which made Nino to give a guffaw.

“Oh, shut up” Sho complained at Nino while turning bright red.

The creature got closer to them, playing with them, then, it jumped up high startling them and wetting the floor around the pool and turning it slippery. That, added to the fact that both of them were leaning their bodies towards the creature inside the pool, was the final touch to make both of them to slip and fall inside the pool at the same time, provoking a sea of waves and a rain of splashing. The creature jumped and chirped having the time of its life, while a soaked Sho and Nino emerged from the bottom of the pool to the surface.

“You! Little devil!” Nino yelled as soon as he was able to breathe again.

Pet purred loudly and swam in circles as if it had nothing to do whit it. Nino muttered something and took his eyes away from Pet as he felt a soft wave crashing against his shoulders from behind. Nino shook the water out of his head and turned around, just to lose his breath right away. Sho was behind him, his wet hair framing his face, drops of water running down his cheeks, his neck, his collarbone.

Sho just couldn’t take it anymore. He had been trying to hold back from the moment that man had collided with him at the first single’s event the night before. Had it only been the night before? It seemed like a lifetime away. From that moment on, Sho’s head had been filled only with that man. That mysterious yet exciting man. His inciting sharp eyes, his clear skin, the curve of his neck, the beauty spot on his chin, the shape of his shoulders. Everything, everything in that man attracted him uncontrollably. He had tried, he really had. But watching him under the dim light of the stars that entered through the window by the pool’s side, with his hair falling over his intense eyes, caressing his cheeks, while tiny drops of water slipped down finding its way to outline his lips, Sho felt he had lost all his self-control. His white t-shirt stuck to his upper body, showing every little detail of his anatomy didn’t help either. It was just too much. Sho unconsciously advanced a few steps towards him, unable to avert his eyes from those lips anymore. One more step, and then, another.

Nino trembled in anticipation as Sho was drawing closer. He was tired of fighting his feelings. Nino didn’t want to move, he wanted Sho to get so close their world’s collided in only one. Sho’s lips were only a few centimetres away from his, a kiss written all over them. Nino desired that kiss, with all his strengths. He wanted to feel those thick lips trapped between his. His arms around him. His hands running down his spine.

Liar.

Suddenly, Nino stepped away, softly stopping Sho’s advance by putting his hands on his chest.

“Sho… I…” Sho’s eyes were half closed, his lips about to kiss him when Nino had stopped him. “I have to tell you something. It’s important” Nino’s body was trembling from head to toe, but for a different reason now. He was afraid. Afraid of Sho’s reaction to the truth. Afraid of Sho walking away from him.

“I’m listening” Sho replied tilting his head with his lips sensually half way open.

Nino swallowed loudly and took a step back.

“It’s about Pet, and me… and…” Nino lowered his eyelids ashamed, “the truth”

“The truth” Sho repeated in a tremulous low voice.

He wasn’t making it any easier. Nino took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. Then, with renewed resolution he faced Sho.

“Pet is not my pet, as I’m not Matsumoto Jun. My real name is Ninomiya Kazunari, I work in a zoo in Central Planet. Or well, I should better say I worked in a zoo. I don’t think they’ll reemploy me after what I did”. Sho’s eyes were unreadable. “You see, a month ago a Black-sand Dragon, the only other specimen we had, died from illness, leaving Pet alone. As I worked there, I know for sure they weren’t planning in getting another Black-sand Dragon for the zoo, as they’re almost bankrupt. Even if they knew what that meant. Well, I don’t know if you know it, but Black-sand Dragons are a highly emotional specie, which spend their whole life living in large herds. Furthermore, they are monogamous and need to have a companion. It’s a proven fact that Black-sand Dragons that are left alone for whatever reason never last more than a few months, before dying of loneliness and sadness. And did you know that their lifespan in their native planet is about three thousand years? And Pet is just a baby… I just couldn’t leave it to die just like that… But they wanted to have it at the zoo, alone, no matter what. They even told me that a few months would be better than nothing. I got so mad that I planned Pet’s rescue. I just couldn’t leave it to die alone in a cage, for the rest of its days. So, I kidnapped the creature. I was desperate… I didn’t have much time before they noticed Pet’s absence and go looking for it. I headed to the spaceport, but only three ships were leaving that day. None that I could afford. Then I met Mr. Matsumoto by pure chance. He mistook me for a porter, and I… I took the chance. I… I know I did wrong, and that I stole not once, but two times in a row” Nino took a deep breath. “But above all, I’m sorry I lied to you, I really am. At first I didn’t know if I could trust you. And when I did, it was already too late”

Nino’s lower lip was trembling, and he hardly could hold Sho’s direct look. Nino trembled even more as Sho advanced towards him again. Nino stepped back once, twice, until his back hit the pool’s end. Once again, he was trapped between Sho and a wall. But Sho didn’t stop. He got closer and put his hands against the pool’s edge, on both of Nino’s sides.

“Are you finished?” Sho asked.

Nino nodded, now unable to look at anything but Sho. That was how close he was.

“Then I guess it’s my turn” Sho had lowered his tone, making his voice almost a whisper. “Actually, I too have something to confess”

Nino searched for his eyes, unable to move.

“You lied about Pet” Sho decreased the distance that separated them one more centimetre. “You lied about your identity”, Sho’s nose almost touched Nino’s. “You lied about your purpose on this cruise”. Sho stopped his advance there. “And you’re trembling. Because you lied to me”. Sho’s voice had softened as his face lose almost all of its rigid expression from before. “But you know what?”

Nino held his breath.

“I knew it all. From the very beginning. Or well, after Pet came to visit. I thought you were suspicious, so I investigated. I found some interesting news from Central Planet, and some very useful information about Black-sand Dragons, and a very curious article about a rich man called Matsumoto Jun, who doesn’t look like you at all”. Sho smiled naughtily. “Haven’t you notice?”

Nino looked at Sho, eyes wide open.

“I haven’t called you Jun since yesterday night”.

Nino tried to remember every moment he had spent with Sho. Since the day before he hadn’t heard him call him Jun not even once. Nino met Sho’s eyes in astonishment.

“See?” Sho smiled pleased. “I didn’t want to call you by a fake name”

Sho was smiling, and Nino couldn’t think of a reason why. Why wasn’t he mad at him?

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Nino asked in a whisper. Treasuring the almost inexistent distance between Sho and him as if it were to be the last time he was to feel him that close.

Then, Sho smiled even warmly.

“Because when I discovered your lies, I made a decision. I guessed you would be wanting to disembark on the first spaceport we hit, so you could continue with your runaway plan. That meant two days. I decided to wait. If you didn’t tell me the truth before tomorrow morning, I would forget about you and carry on as if I had never met you. But if you told me the truth before that…” Sho bit his lower lip and stopped talking.

“What would you do…?” Nino breathed.

Sho’s eyes met Nino’s, but instead of words, Sho answered with his lips. He tilted his head, slowly approaching Nino’s lips, and pressed them tenderly, opening his mouth and letting the water on their skin fuse together. Then Sho’s kiss became more intense as he felt Nino’s hands run down his spine, surrounding his waist and pulling his body toward his under water. Nino’s reaction to Sho’s kiss using his whole body made Sho pant as he deepened his kiss with desire.

Only a chirping noise followed by a large number of loud splashes was able to end that first kiss between the two. Cheeks bright red and heavily breathing, they looked at each other in complicity.

“And which one did you think I would do. Tell you the truth or remain silent?” Nino’s voice choked with emotion.

Sho rubbed his nose against Nino’s and smiled.

“I’m a dreamer. So, of course, I chose to believe in you”

Nino felt as if a thousand Pets where chirping inside his stomach.

“And I was right” Sho breathed, kissing the corner of Nino’s mouth.

Nino felt a shiver running down his spine.

“So…” Sho smiled sideways. “What should I call you, Mr. Ninomiya Kazunari?”

“Nino” He said in a tiny voice while turning even redder.

“Nino” Sho whispered to his ear.

“Sho” Nino’s tone turned serious in an instant, pausing the kissing game for a while.

“Nn?”

“Pet is growing bigger, faster than expected. I… I really need to leave tomorrow” There was sadness in his voice.

“I know”

“I…” Nino sighed and surrounded Sho’s neck with both arms while sinking his face in Sho’s wet hair.

Sho surrounded Nino’s shoulders and kissed his nape.

“It’s okay. One step at a time. This is not a goodbye. And, hey…” Sho reached for Nino’s eyes, gently pushing him away. “We still have this marvellous whole night ahead!”

Nino smiled even so and held Sho tight before finally letting him go. Pet was being way too loud now.

“I should take Pet to the room”

“And I’m going with you. If you let me”

Nino gave him a fleeting kiss and got out of the water.

“I was hoping you would”

 

~9~

The suite was bathed in the starlight that leaked from the tall window, giving Nino’s bare skin a shade of light blue in the endless night. Sho’s hands surrounded Nino’s hips, who was sitting astride on Sho’s crotch, and pulled him closer, showering him with kisses that went from his jaw down his neck and to his chest. Sho loved to feel Nino shivering in his arms every time he called him by his name, whispered in his ear.

Pet was asleep in the bathroom, so Nino could finally relax and get swept up in passion. He run his fingers down Sho’s hair and neck, reaching then for his mouth while sliding over him. In a quick move, Sho pushed Nino back and lied over him, letting their naked bodies feel each other’s skin. Sho held Nino’s arms over his head while running his tongue down his neck. Nino moaned and pushed Sho back, sitting on him again, then softly bit his lobe and rubbed his body against his.

Every second falling deeper into passion, every kiss leading to yet another growing desire. They spent the night loving each other as if they’d been waiting for a whole lifetime. The stars’ dim light, instead of hiding their angularity in shadows, gave them the perfect excuse to discover each other’s skin using only the sense of touch, lips and fingers.

Aroused they caressed, breathing heavily they kissed, hearts beating fast in unison, but above all, they gave themselves to that night that only belonged to the two of them, tasting every second as if it was the last they had, and making the best of it.

***

Sho and Nino held each other in their arms, entangled in a warm embrace. They were in silence, rubbing their heads now, kissing then. Letting their fingers caress now skin, now hair. Their gaze lost in the stars by the other side of the window.

Sho’s hair tickled Nino’s ear, he turned his face lazily and sank his nose in it, trying hard to train his senses to remember Sho’s scent, Sho’s touch, and Sho’s voice. Even though the Space hadn’t changed its blackness, Nino knew the morning was drawing closer, and soon he’d had to disembark with Pet, parting ways with Sho. Nino surrounded Sho’s waist and closed his eyes. Sho turned his whole body towards Nino and embraced him whole with arms and legs.

“I wish I hadn’t got to leave in a few hours” Nino said unconsciously.

“And so do I” Sho caressed Nino’s lobe with his lips tenderly.

“But I have to” Nino tightened his arms around Sho’s hips.

“I know”

“This is not a goodbye. Right?”

“No. Not at all” Sho kissed Nino in the forehead. “Do what you have to do, and then, come back to me”

“I will”

***

Nino didn’t know when or how, but he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, Sho wasn’t by his side anymore. Nino hugged one of the pillows and hid his face in it for a second to regain strengths. It was so hard to leave knowing that Sho would remain on that ship… The sound of paper under his hand surprised him. Nino put the pillow aside and took the piece of paper he had just crumpled while hugging the pillow. It was a note written by hand.

Good luck and, please, stay safe.
I’ll be waiting for you.
Give a kind tap on the head to Pet for me,
I wish it happiness as well.

With love,
Sho.

Nino re-read it while getting out of bed, smiling warmly while letting his finger run over Sho’s calligraphy. It was a mess, but oh, so precious… He folded the note and put it inside his jacket’s pocket, which he had left hanging from a hanger by the door. He walked towards the window and stretched a little, in case he had to run. It was still very early in the morning, and so Pet was still sleeping. Nino prepared its food and gave it to Pet in the bathroom. He took a shower and got dressed with his own clothes this time, put Pet inside the bag, feeling thankful for most of its food being gone. Otherwise, he had no idea how he was going to fit the creature inside. It had, indeed, grown quite a lot. Once ready to leave, he took a panoramic look at the room and bowed from the door’s threshold.

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Matsumoto. And once again, my apologies”

Nino took a last look at the suite and closed the door behind him.

Time to follow the plan.

Being so early in the morning, Nino had no problems whatsoever for reaching the main cruise’s hatch unseen.

“Early bird, Sir?” Asked a voice behind him. It was Aiba.

“Kind of. When will the disembarking be possible?”

“In fifteen minutes, Sir. Excited to get trapped in Ranza’s market enchantment?”

Ranza was a planet where a great market was always open and ready to fulfil almost every tourist’s buying wish list. Perfect to find a one-person ship in less than an hour too, Nino thought.

“It’s my first time here” Nino lied.

“Isn’t it always?” Aiba smiled in complicity and walked away singing an old song.

Fifteen minutes later the hatch opened and Nino left the Luxury Space Cruise Sami The Third. He found a renting shop next to the spaceport, which made sense, after all. Nino had to haggle a bit, but he got a really good price for a decent two-person ship. Pet kept growing and he wasn’t sure how long it was going to take him to reach Pet’s mother-planet.

Nino put Pet on the co-pilot sit and turned on the engine. The faster the better. He had started to feel his lungs lacking a bit of air knowing that he soon would be a million miles away from Sho. His heart began to ache as soon as he took off, while a single tear menaced to overflow his left eye.

“Next stop: Nerku” He said out loud. “Planet of the Black-sand Dragons”

It was time to end what he had started at Central Planet.

 

~10~

A week passed by. Sho had gradually stopped taking part in most of the single’s events, until he completely stopped going to any of them. He began to take aimless walks around the cruise instead, taking good care of making whatever route he took end either in the enchanted passage or in the main observatory deck. He had spent only two days with Nino, but it felt like a lifetime. And he missed him.

He missed him so much.

He often found himself thinking about Nino and his plan to save Pet from an early and lonely death in a zoo cage. He wondered endless times if Nino would have accomplished his self-imposed mission. He wondered if he was all right.

He wondered if Nino ever thought of him anymore.

Sho reached the main observatory deck. Five decks below there, a big party was going on, so the observatory deck was deserted. Sho walked slowly and sat by a continuous bench in front of the amazing Space views. And as he lost his gaze in the stars, he remembered those two days spent by Nino’s side.

Nino.

Sho smiled.

Ninomiya Kazunari.

Nino was funny, witty, intelligent, determined, beautiful, risky, sensible, and passionate. Sho was sure that he wouldn’t have found someone like him in the whole known Universe even if he spent all his life trying to.

But a Black-sand Dragon had managed to have them meet.

All that Nino had done, all that he had risked, his job, his earnings, all he had he had given to save that single Black-sand Dragon’s baby. Sho lowered his eyes and fixed them on his feet for a second. Of course, he had never met anyone like Nino. Nino was one of a kind. And what a beautiful heart he had! Well, Sho thought, at this point actually Nino had two hearts, because whatever Sho may want to say about it, it was a proven fact that he had given his to that impetuous man. And so he would wait for him. That, Sho could promise.

If only he had a way of contacting him to check if he was all right. But phones, however technologically advanced, didn’t have interplanetary range. Leaving Sho with only one option which, ironically, was the same he had chosen the moment he had discovered that Nino had lied to him the first day they had met.

And that was to believe in him.

Even if he never got to see him again.

***

The cruise ended a week later after that. By then, Sho was known by everyone as the solitary one. The only person he had talked to in the past few days was that cheerful bellboy, Aiba. Because he was the only link he had left between him and Nino. As it happens, Aiba was actually really nice to talk to. He had tons of stories about past cruises and peculiar clients. Sho smiled imagining that the fake Matsumoto Jun would soon become one of those stories Aiba would tell to yet another passenger. By the way, the real Matsumoto Jun had embarked in Ranza. He made quite a fuss about the crew leaving him staying on the ground. But he never knew the truth behind it. Aiba had been sharp enough to leave Suite 510 as if it had never been used before escorting Matsumoto to it. That way, Matsumoto never learnt his identity had been supplanted for two days. And, as Nino had been cautious enough not to give his real or fake name to anyone but Sho and Aiba the bellboy, concerning those taking part in the single’s event it was as if Nino had been but a vague impression of someone they probably had seen, or not. In a way, that was for the better, but on the other side Sho felt as lonely as ever. Almost no one seemed to remember the man he had loved under the stars. It was almost as if Nino and Pet had only been a brief dream.

The cruise docked at its final destination.

Sho descended the ship ramp carrying his suitcase by himself. The spaceport was crowded with people waiting for the arrivals or waiting to depart themselves. Hundreds of heads looking in every direction, moving frenetically from left to right and then the other way around. Thousands of words being spoken in every known language in a complete chaos. Everyone moved, yelled or pushed their way through.

Everyone but one man.

He was lying against an information post, his arms crossed over his chest, his left leg over his right. A smile dancing on his lips, and a pair of eyes Sho could never forget. Sho couldn’t believe his eyes. Was it a dream? Sho speeded up his pace. Nino uncrossed legs and arms and left the information post behind. His smile was now wider, his eyes shone like the stars.

Only a few metres away from each other Sho stopped pretending and fighting. He left the suitcase on the floor and run to hug Nino with his whole body. Nino responded by holding him back and pressing his lips against the bare skin of his neck. Sho held him for a few more moments before slowly letting him go. He then posed both his hand on Nino’s cheeks and checked up his face. Nino had a small bruise on his right temple and his skin was slightly tanned. Sho softly caressed the bruise with his left thumb.

“You came back” He whispered.

“You waited” Nino answered.

“Of course I waited” Sho laughed.

They both leaned against each other’s forehead.

“How did everything go?” Sho asked in a reedy voice.

“Pet is now with its kind. I wish you had seen how happy it became when he saw dozens of creatures just like itself. He was chirping all around nonstop” Nino smiled warmly. “Pet is free now, and happy as ever. It now has a future ahead”

“I’m so happy to hear that!”

All of a sudden Nino hugged Sho again, holding him as tight as he could.

“I’ve missed you” Nino made a short pause. “Thank you, Sho”

“Eh? But, I didn’t do anything!”

“You gave me the strength I needed to finish what I had started. You gave me your help. And… And a place to come back to”

Sho let go of Nino and moved away from him just enough to be able to see both his eyes.

“You mean…? You can…” Sho hesitated, afraid of going too fast, afraid of his own words. “You don’t have to leave anymore?”

“If you let me, I would like to spend some more time by your side” Nino made a nervous pause. “As much as possible, actually. We still have too much to discover from each other”

“I’m quite a mysterious man, you know?” Sho tempted in a trembling yet playful tone. “It could easily take you a lifetime to unravel half of my secrets. Just saying”

Nino smiled with his whole face and hugged Sho again.

“Fine with me” he whispered in Sho’s ear. “But, one suggestion, Sho”

“What?”

“You better pick up your suitcase. I’ve heard that lately there have been some wicked porters stealing suitcases and boarding tickets around this luxury cruise”

Sho laughed out loud.

“No kidding!” He played along.

Sho reached for Nino’s hand and picked up his suitcase from the ground.

“Then I should be careful. Ready to go?”

“More than ever”

 

The End.