Page 35 of Love and the Laws of Motion
“Plasma beam,” Livie muttered.“That is not a thing, scientifically speaking.”
“Neither are aliens with octopus heads, but here we are.”
“Why is that guy going into that tunnel?It keeps filling up with flames.”
“Oh, he’s gonna die for sure,” Nick assured her.
“How do you know that?”
“Because he doesn’t have a name.They just keep calling him ‘Ensign,’ unlike our hero here.He’s a total redshirt.”
“His shirt is gold.”
“No, a redshirt.Like inStar Trek?”
Livie shook her head.“Never watched it.”
Nick turned his head to gape at her.“Where have youbeen?”
“Probably in the library.Explain what redshirts are.”
“Okay, a redshirt is a character who’s only there to die.They’re cannon fodder.They don’t get a name or a backstory and they’re not really integral to the hero’s story.They tag along with the hero and bite it first, so you know how much danger the hero is in.”
“Like that guy just did,” Livie pointed out, as the redshirt in question writhed in a blast of exhaust flames before plummeting presumably to his death.
“Yep.See ya, Ensign Whatever.Now our hero is left on his own to complete the mission.”
“With theplasma beam.”
“That plasma beam is about to save the day.”Nick shifted his weight under Spudge, sinking farther down into the squishy sofa.Maybe it wasn’t so bad, she decided, having company other than Spudge when she was awake at night.
She snuck a look at him as he watched the battle scene unfolding on the screen.The blue light cast his features in stark contrast, highlighting the little bump in the bridge of his nose and the shape of his lips, the lower a little bit fuller than the upper.This late at night, his face had a shadow of stubble that wasn’t there during the day.Staring at him, imagining how it would feel to touch it, made Livie’s insides twist up with a sensation that she couldn’t identify as good or bad.
“Okay, watch this.”He nudged her with his elbow.She turned her attention away from him before he could catch her staring and tried to pay attention to the patently ridiculous space fight playing out on screen.
At the very last second, the hero managed to flip a big metal lever that allowed the plasma beam to power up and blast their enemy’s ship into oblivion.Alever.Like it was some old Victorian steam engine.
“This explosion is ridiculous,” she said as a massive fireball engulfed the enemy ship.“That ship is far too small to contain enough oxygen to fuel a fire that large.The combustion would only expand until the fuel source burned up.And there’s no way the good guys would feel the blast on their ship.There’s no atmosphere in space to get displaced by the shock waves—”
Nick lifted his hand and put his finger against her lips.
His finger.On her lips.She froze, her eyes locked on his.She couldn’t even breathe, staring into his eyes, imagining that fingertip sliding across her cheek, and down her neck.
Nick blinked and his fingertip slid away from her lips, although they still tingled from the touch.“I am never watching another terrible Japanese sci-fi movie featuring octopus-headed aliens with you again.”His teasing blew away every bit of the tension from a moment ago, which had undoubtedly all been in her head anyway.
“Sorry,” she mumbled when her ability to speak had returned.“My sisters hate watching movies with me.”
He chuckled, his shoulder jostling hers gently.“It’s fine.It’s not like I’m watching for the plot anyway, and I like listening to you think out loud.You’re more interesting than the movie.”
It was nothing but a silly, offhanded compliment, but her cheeks heated with pleasure.On screen, in the aftermath of his triumph, the hero was suddenly embroiled in some sort of romantic subplot, with a woman who hadn’t appeared on screen at all during the big battle.
“So your sister’s fiancé.”
Livie choked on the breath she’d been taking.“Herwhat?”
“Alex.They’re engaged.”
“Yeah, I know.It’s just weird, hearing him called that.I’m not used to it yet.Jess, engaged.”
