by Dan Ackerman
Rhys began to answer.
“Especially one as cute as this!”
Rhys sighed.
“I know, I know, I’m a piece of shit, I know, but you know…I’m not that bad, am I?”
“People don’t know you as well as I do.”
Arden grinned. “A few people might.”
“Don’t flirt with me in front of the baby,” Rhys admonished.
“Or in front of your date, how about that?” Oggie asked from behind Arden.
Arden turned and grinned at him, too. “Oggie, this is Darcy.”
Oggie gave the baby a thin smile.
“Dar, say hi, Oggie.”
Darcy waved. “Hi, Goggie.”
Arden’s grin widened.
“Nice to meet you,” Oggie told the baby.
Arden kept the baby with him as he made the rounds, which forced Rhys to stay nearby.
He returned Darcy when he had to give his speech. He didn’t want to let her go. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her until he’d seen her.
“Hello, everyone. It’s good to see you all again. I hope you’re as pleased to have me back as I am to be back. I am still alive despite anything you might have heard.”
A nervous chuckle rippled through the crowd.
“First of all, I have to thank the Council members and my First Chamberlain for doing their best work while I was gone. I have to thank all of you for bearing with us in this transition. I have to thank our new friends from Terra One for trusting that we could build a home together here.”
He looked out over the crowd. Every soul on Eden, save for the ones who had stayed home in protest. He could see the clusters of people. The peers clumped near the front of the room, shining; the workers crowded in the back, a sea of neutral colors. Light and flowy, Terrans studded both crowds.
He’d never seen the room at capacity before.
“I hope that I have given you sufficient reason to believe in me and my vision for the future. For years, we tried to make Eden thrive under a system where most of her population could barely live. It’s time to heal that rift and heal our home. A while ago, I asked my peers to be kind and…And now I stand in front of all my peers and ask for that same thing. Please, be kind. Trust us. Welcome our new friends.”
He took a breath.
Someone clapped.
One person, then a few more, then dozens.
He couldn’t keep from smiling.
It lasted for half a minute, maybe less.
A glass hurtled on to the stage.
He threw up his hands in time to block his face. It clipped off his arm, then shattered on the floor.
“Fuck you!” roared a familiar voice.
He saw Bull shoving through the first few rows of the crowd.
Fuck.
Arden glanced around for safety officers.
Movement fluttered through the crowd.
“You’re ruining everything.” Bull had made his way through everyone and climbed onto the stage. “Destroying our home.”
Arden shrunk back.
Fuck.
To the crowd, Bull demanded, “Don’t let this fucker trick you. He’s handing Eden over to the thralls.”
“No, I—”
Bull grabbed Arden by the front of his shirt and dragged him forward. “If you let him get away with this, we’ll be starving in a year.”
Arden started pulling back Bull’s thumb, trying to free his shirt. Once he got his shirt free, Bull grabbed his hair.
“Look around you, look at those fucking thralls, look at how they’re watching you.”
Arden fought to get Bull’s hand out of his hair but couldn’t do anything to untangle his fingers.
Bull yanked him forward.
Arden moved himself to where Bull wanted him to avoid hurting his neck.
“This is our fucking chance to show them we are not going quietly.”
“Don’t!” Arden shouted.
A handful of safety officers climbed onto the stage.
The crowd shoved and surged. People shouted.
“Don’t listen to him. This is not the time for—” Arden grunted when Bull punched him in the back. He hit the floor. Thankfully, Bull had let go of his hair.
Arden could see other fights in the crowd, more verbal than physical.
He couldn’t see Oggie or Rhys.
They had been right in the front row.
He tried to stand.
Bull put a foot on his back and shoved him back down.
Not too long later, six safety officers tackled Bull in the middle of his speech about the right to rule and natural class divisions.
Arden pushed himself up, dusted off his knees. He stared out over the crowd, not sure what to say, or do. How could he recoup from this?
He made himself smile. “Sorry about that! For those of you who don’t know Bull…Well. Now you do. He’s not exactly the best Eden has to offer, is he?”
The crowd quieted. At least he had done that.
“If we’re honest, I think he’s still mad at me for doing that to his eye. I don’t know what the fuss is, I hear the eyes they make up in the lab are just as good as the real thing. They did a pretty good job with a few things for me.”
A few people tittered.
Arden straightened his clothes and brushed himself off. “Anyway, dinner will be out soon. Make sure you visit the bar and get a drink before we sit.”
He stepped off the stage trying not to let it show how much his legs shook. He felt like he’d done a thousand squats.
Cole grabbed his hand.
He yelped.
“Sorry, sorry, Ardi, I…Are you okay?” Cole slid his arms around Arden.
Arden nodded. “Probably a few bruises but you know how easy I mark up. Fucking Bull! Leave it to him to ruin this.” He glanced around. “Where are Rhys and Oggie?”
“Oh, they…Some of Bull’s friends were in the crowd trying to rile people up and Mason…Well. With Bull on the stage and everything. He needed air. They went with him. And I think Rhys was nervous for the baby.” Cole pulled back and straightened Arden’s shirt for him.
“Right, of course. Is…is Mace okay?”
“He just needed air. He…Well. You know. You’re really okay?”
“Yes, yes, now get the Council members and help me get people settled. Fucking Bull. Do I look okay?”
“You actually look great. Like. You look healthy.”
Arden laughed. “People keep saying that and I’m starting to suspect that healthy is a polite way of saying fat.”
Cole abruptly pulled him into another, fiercer hug. “Ardi, you look amazing.”
Arden wanted to cry. He sniffed. “Go get people settled.”
The Council members dispersed through the peers.
Arden went to talk to the Terrans and assure him Bull was just an idiot with a personal agenda, not a serious political threat.
He approached the workers.
He found Mara’s pale cloud of hair.
She shook her head when she saw him.
“Don’t punch me. I saw what you did to Rhys.”
“I thought you’d had Oggie killed.”
“He said he told you.”
“Oh, yeah, that sounded very credible. Heading to Terra for a vacation?”
He understood the misgivings. “So now that you know he’s alive, are we good?”
“No.”
Arden sighed. He glanced around the workers. “How are they doing?”
“I don’t fucking know.”
“Well, can you help me find out? We’re supposed to be mingling.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then go mingle.” She walked away from him.
He stared at the throng of people, wished he had some Twelve in him, and took a breath before he immersed himself in the crowd. He had spent his whole life pretending to want to talk to people.
He engaged in pleasantries with as many people as he could. He reassured everyone who looked to him
for reassurance. He fielded suspicions with the answer, “Don’t worry, Rhys would never let me get away with that.” A few people thanked him for clearing their debts, which he hadn’t expected.
One woman about Winslow’s age hugged him, her gnarled fingers grasping on to his jacket.
At first, he felt quite concerned. He’d been manhandled not too recently, but he didn’t think this old lady could do as much damage as Bull.
He hugged her back.
“It was the only thing to be done,” Arden told all the people who thanked him.
A voice on the speakers announced that dinner would begin soon, so Arden had a reason to leave the workers and go back to his friends.
At his table, he’d arranged for a select handful of people to sit with him. He tried to get an even spread of people. All the Council members had arranged similar tables.
Someone had to set a good example.
Cathie and Holly arrived at the table together. Cathie looked upset and Arden couldn’t think of a reason for her not to be after Bull’s display.
Holly seemed overall amused by all of it. “You took that like a champ.”
“I was too startled to cry.”
Oggie, Mace, and Rhys found their way to the table, too. Mace looked twice as upset as Cathie and Arden quietly asked if he’d rather be at home.
“No, it’s better to be distracted. I…I’ve got to go find Lourdes. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I’ll make time,” Arden promised.
Nothing else of interest happened for the rest of the dinner. A few Terrans drank too much, despite everyone’s warnings, and a worker and a Terran got caught screwing in a backroom when a waiter went to get more plates.
Arden honestly felt surprised that hadn’t happened sooner.
He stayed until everyone else had left.
Rhys took Darcy home but not before Arden gave her a squeeze and a kiss.
Rhys gave him a funny sort of look, not upset or disturbed, but a warm kind of puzzlement.
Oggie drank more than he’d said he would, but not too much. He fell asleep, his arms folded on the table.
Arden rubbed his back once the last civilian had cleared out. “Wake up, hon.”
“Mmm.”
“Come on, it’s time to go home.”
Oggie stretched and yawned and made a general production of getting to his feet. He rubbed his eyes and stumbled the whole time they walked home.
In their apartment, he started to head to his room.
Arden didn’t let go of his hand. He nodded toward the master bedroom. “What do you think?”
Oggie nodded. He threw his clothes on the floor and burrowed into the blankets.
Arden settled in beside him. He kissed his shoulder, the skin warm and smooth. He still smelled faintly of soap.
Arden didn’t use Twelve except in the cases of real emotional emergencies, but months passed in a blur like he had steeped himself in the stuff. He couldn’t remember when he’d done what or who he’d done it with. Moment-to-moment, of course, he remained lucid. He hadn’t lost his mind, he was just busy beyond belief.
It turned out bringing dozens of illiterate, uneducated workers with skills specific to Terra to Eden required more managing and training than he’d anticipated.
Setting up people to manage the Public Health Fund and Public Health Office also proved to be a larger undertaking than he’d anticipated. Not because no one could run it, or because there wasn’t enough money, he made sure the money was there, but because at least twelve workers came in a week seeking treatment for addiction alone.
More needed mental health services and at least half the active workers had chronic but mild injuries.
On top of that, there was managing public perceptions and the peers who had a hard time understanding why the workers deserved decent treatment.
Oggie looked over Arden’s shoulder as he looked through another report.
Arden had promised him an uninterrupted breakfast, but he hadn’t delivered.
“Looks like it’s a good time to be a physical therapist…” Oggie noted.
“You thinking of going back?”
“No.”
Oggie hadn’t worked since he’d come back to Eden. That wasn’t to say he’d done nothing. He read a lot. He spent time with Holly and his sister. He went to have lunch with Winslow when Arden really couldn’t find the time to check on him and came home with candy wrappers in his pockets.
He’d started seeing a therapist, too. Once a week, unless he felt like he didn’t want to go, which happened sometimes. Usually, he came back from sessions and told Arden he didn’t see the point. More than once, he’d said, “I don’t need some overeducated peer to tell me my habits are unhealthy.”
Oggie took the tablet from Arden and seated himself on the other side of the table. “I went to see a movie with the girls last night.”
“I’m sorry I got home so late.”
“It was horrifically bad. Like…Just terrible. Do you read the scripts Frakes sends you or what?”
“I haven’t had time.”
Oggie put the tablet face down on the table. “I’ve been thinking.”
“I’m sorry I got home—”
“Sugar, I’m not mad.”
“You should be.”
Oggie took his hand. “Is it too late to take that job you offered?”
Arden frowned.
“The Entertainment Minister?”
“Oh. Oh! No, no, of course not, not at all.”
“Good.”
They stared at each other.
“I accept, then,” Oggie told him.
Arden didn’t know what to do. He looked at his breakfast, his tablet, and Oggie. “Uh. Good. Great. That’s…Oh, that’s such a relief. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve interviewed for that position. Half of them don’t know the difference between metaphor and cliché.”
“I do have terms to accepting of course.”
“We’ll get a contract.”
“No, terms for us. I’ll be busy too so you won’t be able to just fit me into your schedule whenever you can.”
Arden’s stomach turned. He and Oggie hadn’t done much more than sleep in the same bed since they’d gotten back. There hadn’t been time for anything. Sometimes they got to eat together or have a whole conversation. Most of the time, though, Arden came home and went to bed, too burnt out to do more than cuddle.
Sometimes Oggie tagged along but there was too much to do to pay him any attention.
Oggie squeezed his fingers. “I want you to start taking time off. Sleep in once in a while. Or come home early.”
“I—”
“You can. I want dinner together, at least once a week. I want one day a month that’s just for us.”
“Oggie, things are so busy—”
“Things have been busy for months, shug. You need to start delegating or you’re going to fall apart. We’re going to fall apart. I miss you.”
Arden pressed his lips together. He’d lived in such a blur of activity that he’d barely had time to eat or sleep, let alone miss anyone for more than five minutes.
“That time on Terra spoiled me. Is it so bad that I want a little bit of that back?”
“No.”
“You have a solid Council and a very capable Chamberlain. You can ask people to do more.”
Arden shook his head. “They have families…” He trailed off and looked up at Oggie, realizing what he’d said.
Oggie didn’t take his hand back or look hurt. “I know I’m not as important—”
“You are.”
“Then stay home once in a while. Make time for me.”
Arden nodded.
Oggie came over and seated himself on Arden’s lap. He cradled Arden’s head against his chest. “I’m really starting to worry that you don’t want to see me.”
“I do. It’s just…”
Oggie had to urge, “Go on, shug.”
“My family did this
to Eden. I’ve got to fix it.”
“They didn’t do it alone. You can’t fix it alone, either.”
Arden tightened his arms around Oggie’s waist. He sighed.
They stayed like that for a while. It was the longest Arden had spent conscious with him in weeks.
“Give me two weeks,” Arden said. “Two weeks to figure out how to make this work. Hire some people, get them up to date.”
“Only if you stay at home with me tomorrow.”
“I—”
“No one will blame you. Eden is not falling apart, she’s just a little messy right now. One day doesn’t hurt anything. Take it from someone who’s also a little messy right now.”
Oggie spoke with such soft insistence that Arden agreed.
He came home late again that night and found Oggie already sleeping. He thought about those nights he’d waited up for him, how uncertain and lonely he’d been. And that had been before they’d been more than friends. He crawled into bed beside him and Oggie immediately rolled over and nuzzled up to him.
They stayed in bed most of the morning. Arden woke hours later than usual to find Oggie reading next to him.
“Good book?”
“Mhm. New one out by Jensen Jackson. Decent so far. A little predictable but her stuff always is, don’t you think?”
“I never got into her work much.”
“I’ll just finish this chapter…”
Arden scooted closer and rested his head on Oggie’s thighs, curled up against his legs. He hadn’t gotten this much rest in months. He burrowed further into Oggie’s thighs. “Hi.”
Oggie set down his reading. “Hi.”
Arden slid one of his arms under Oggie’s leg. “Hi.”
“Are we going to do this all morning?”
“I feel like I owe you a lot of ‘hellos.”’ Arden hugged Oggie’s thigh. “Did you have a plan for this day off?”
“Many months ago, on a hot, dusty planet, beneath a crooked tree, you promised me a lemon slush.”
Arden had never made good on that promise. He’d meant to, but so many things had slipped his mind. “You can get whatever dessert you want. It doesn’t have to be a lemon slush.”
“Aw, thanks, shug,” Oggie said. “I can get whatever I want?”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
Oggie lightly walked his fingers along Arden’s side.
Arden squealed and wiggled away when he started tickling him. “No, no, no, Oggie, don’t. Oh…Stop!” He twisted and grabbed Oggie’s wrist to hold him still.