Page 37 of Sway's Peace
“We had a meeting,” Loyalty said, reminding her softly, like he knew her brain was completely scrambled from being tossed around. “Your dock crew refuses to go near my ship. I’m not altogether surprised, but you and I did agree on repairs.”
Grace frowned. “I know. I don’t understand why. I swear, the dock crews normally aren’t like this. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Nor is it entirely unexpected. I am what I am, and I’m aware that it makes people very uncomfortable.”
Grace frowned. “What do you mean? Like, a ratchi? I’ve never heard of a ratchi prejudice around here before. I mean, maybe as individuals, but not as, like, a general thing.”
Loyalty chuckled and Sway gave her a soft smile as he pushed her hair back over her shoulder. They were both giving her such indulgent looks. Like you would towards a child that had said something particularly endearing.
The lift finally came to a halt and Sway stepped off, once again lacing their fingers together.
This part of the ring was somewhere between the far basement and the middle of the station. This level in particular held some decent hotels. Sway took them down one of the many turn offs into an area owned by one such hotel. A large place, just on the higher end of middle class. It was beautiful, with its own restaurant and gardens filled with dimly glowing yellow plants. He didn’t attempt to go into the front, however. He stepped off the path, into the darker shadows between the wall of the station and the back of the pretty inn that took up the majority this space. It was filled with soft, romantic lighting, the tinkling of a fountain somewhere nearby, and the faint scent of fresh flowers.
There, where the three of them stood in the shadows, hidden behind a pale, yellow and orange bush, they couldn’t really see the building beyond the one wall. And no one could see them either. It was just her and these two guys. One who had just been shot then nearly gnawed off someone’s arm, and one that tried tap dancing on his rib cage while he was down.
Strangely enough, Grace wasn’t afraid of them. This didn’t feel like she’d been forced into a corner by someone who was about to threaten her. It felt more like she was hiding away with her friends under the bleachers to get away from the teachers. She wasn’t a target; she was part of the crew.
A crew who had just run from a crime scene! Oh, my gosh, they were all criminals!
Sway touched her shoulder gently, focusing her back on him before she could spiral into panic. “I’m sorry. I think I’ve probably cost you your job.”
“No, you didn’t.” She offered him a weak smile, trying to get herself back under control. “There’s no way I would have goneback there after that. Th-Thank you for coming to save me. Both of you.”
Sway gave her that simple, easy going smile of his, but Loyalty chuckled shyly.
“I’m starting to feel a bit guilty now,” he admitted. “You’re beingtoonice to someone like me.”
“What are you talking about?” Grace frowned. “I’ve known lots of ratchi. Reetak worked with me in the office. She’s a ratchi, and I love her.”
“Ah, yes, but I am not a ratchi,” he said with a hint of sheepish sadness. Like he was admitting to something he’d rather have kept hidden.
“You are a ratchi. I know what a ratchi looks like. You’re just a purple one. Which is weird, okay, but there are color variations in every species, right? Who cares?”
He chuckled, but there was no real humor in the sound. “I’m not a ratchi. I’m a 108.”
“Huh?”
“His species,” Sway said gently, his gaze fixed tenderly on her. “Every species in the Coalition has a number assigned to it, based on the order they joined the Coalition. His is species 108.”
“Technically, we are called xenom, but no one ever uses the proper name,” Loyalty said, laughing it off like it was no big deal. “I’d say it’s because they like to strip away our very personhood, but, to be fair, for a while, my species didn’thavea proper name. We were named after we were numbered. It took us a while to develop anything similar to a verbal language.”
“That’s not being fair, it’s being naïve,” Sway said, his kind smile and tone not doing anything to take away from the sting of the words. “They could have changed to using your name if they really cared. It’s the personhood thing.”
“You’re rather ruthless, you know that?” Loyalty chuckled, this time sounding genuinely amused.
“I don’t get it,” Grace cut in, looking him up and down. “Your species just happens to look exactly like a ratchi?”
Loyalty didn’t answer immediately. He looked uncomfortable, his gaze turning to the side. Sway, however, had no qualms about speaking.
“His species is parasitic.”
“Huh?”
“They’re the only known sapient parasites. That body isn’t his. He took it from its true owner, killing him in the process.”
Grace’s eyes widened. She whipped her head around to look at Loyalty again. He was making a face.
“I didn’t kill him,” he muttered defensively. “He killed himself. And it was a mutually beneficial deal. I paid him many credz for years for the right to claim his body. Besides, he didn’t want to live anymore after his mate and young died anyway. We both got something out of it. Don’t frame it like I murdered the guy.”
