First Kiss

Posted on Sat Oct 22nd, 2022 @ 7:51pm by Warrant Officer Ahira Kasamoto

Mission: http://vengeance.split-world.com/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Dairus V
Timeline: 13 Years Ago
1172 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Ahira awoke early in the morning before it was fully light outside, to the sound of shouting and someone being slapped somewhere inside the house. While he hated that someone else was being hurt or abused, he was grateful that at least this time, it wasn’t him. He carefully, and quietly rolled off the thin, threadbare, mattress that served as his bed. Even if he had not been fearless, when it came to heights, he would have had no fear of falling and injuring himself, since his bed rested on the floor his fall would have been less than four inches.

He slipped into a pair of dark pants that were too large and had to be secured by a piece of packing cable and a too-small tee shirt, which had once been white and was now a dull gray. He knew he had to be careful making his escape, the last thing he wanted was for his mother to catch him in the act, it would mean an entire Saturday wasted, doing chores and conducting Family business, business that as of late, he just had no stomach for.

Breaking into some of the places he had, had to break into, had been easier than making his exit that morning, but he was naturally quick, agile, and stealthy, and besides, he had an incentive that went beyond escaping his mother’s demands for a day. He was going to see Ryan, the boy he was falling in love with.

With a combination of his skill and the distraction of those who were supposed to be watching he got out of the ramshackle house without being detected. He went out a second-story window, hanging for several long seconds before dropping to the street below. Ahira’s abode was located deep within the Bazaar.

The Bazaar was a marketplace of sorts, where if one had the gold pressed latinum, one could get just about anything; warp coils, ancient Terran firearms, spices, slaves, assassins for hire, and even prostitutes of various genders, species, and orientations. It was a maze of narrow, twisting streets, and even narrower alleys. It was more like a medieval city than one from the late twenty-fourth century

It was easy to get lost in and especially dangerous at night when all the ostensibly decent folks locked themselves inside and the true predators emerged. As Ahira exited the alley that served his choice of egress and onto a slightly wider street. He grabbed an apple off a passing vendor’s cart. After all, he reasoned, he was hungry and the merchant wasn’t being vigilant. He stepped around a corner and ate it without a trace of guilt over the matter.

Even at that early hour with the sun barely above the horizon, the Bazaar was bustling. His small size made threading his way through the growing throng easy. His quick eyes kept him from stepping into sticky obstacles that were better off being left undisturbed.

Though he didn’t have a precise location he had a pretty good idea of where, Ryan a Terran boy, the object of his affection, could be found. It took him a good twenty minutes to get to the Spaceport on the other side of the Bazaar. Along the way, he filched an orange to feed his hunger and a wallet so he could buy his lunch.

He found Ryan there, playing a Risan lute. He was pretty good at it, and on a good day could make a few coins by doing so. He caught the other boy’s eye and they both smiled. Neither was telepathic, but they didn’t need to be. They knew what to do next from previous experience. The Teran boy changed to a more uptempo and somewhat bawdy tune and he danced in concert to the tempo. His singing wasn’t as good as his playing and his dancing was even worse. But that wasn’t the point.

Only a few coins and even fewer sticks were dropped into a box at Ryan’s feet, but the crowd grew and that was the whole idea. With Ryan’s musical talent and Ahira’s sleight-of-hand skills, the two boys were engaging in a different, more profitable enterprise than scratching for a few scattered coins tossed around would ever bring in.

So, with Ryan keeping the growing crowd entertained, Ahira relieved a few unsuspecting businessmen and even a uniformed Imprtisl Lieutenant of their wallets. There was a twinge more guilt felt by the fifteen-year-old, hybrid teen than merely taking a random fruit that was unlikely to be missed and taking someone’s money, but he figured that they could afford the loss. They were far more wealthy than him, indeed almost everyone was, and if they were foolish enough to let down their guard, that was their problem, not his.

Besides, he never stole anyone’s identity, which was both dangerous and morally repugnant to him It was one thing to inconvenience someone quite another to really hurt them. It took him just a few minutes to make more than Ryan could make with his lute playing, or Ahira could do with his juggling(If Ryan’s singing was marginal, Ahira’s was downright dreadful and he was too busy to learn an instrument)in a week.

With Ryan continuing to sing and play, though he dropped the dancing, Ahira slipped away and made his way back to where Ryan stayed. It was in the Briar Patch, an even more dangerous part of the city than the Bazaar. Ahira didn’t fear the latter, even in the dead of night, the former he avoided after dark at all costs.

He got himself a cold mug of Andorian Ale out of the cooler sat down on the couch of Ryan’s apartment curled his feet beneath him and took a long sip. It wasn’t even ten o’clock and he was far too young to drink. But, he was celebrating.

He was about halfway done when he heard Ryan enter. He came over to where Ahira was sitting and lifted the smaller teen off the couch wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace. Ahira managed to sit the drink down without dropping it or spilling any of the precious liquid on himself or the couch.

Ryan sat Ahira down and said, “Before we divided up the spoils, there is something I want to do. Something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. Do you trust me?”

Ahira nodded.

“Then close your eyes.”

The other teen did so.

Then Ryan leaned in and pressed his lips against the other boy’s.

Ahira had never been kissed before, so he didn’t quite know how to respond, how to return the kiss. So, he returned it awkwardly, but neither of the two boys minded. They did practice kissing that day and the kiss was not the first new thing that they tried.

OFF