Chromeheart

by Alia Hess

  She started walking. “I don’t want that for real. Not if we have to take a boat there.”

  Sasha took the flower from her hand and slid it behind her ear. “One day, I am going to teach you how to swim.”

  “That sounds scary.”

  “No. We start in little bit of water first. Trav says there is beautiful lagoon in forest. We could go there.” His mouth pulled to one side. “But he might be mad if he want to fish and we are splashing around naked.”

  She looked at him. “Why would we be naked?”

  “Why not?”

  Dusty laughed.

  A woman on the path ahead slowed and smiled politely. “Hello.”

  Dusty waved. “Hi.”

  “Going to market?”

  “Yes. Need to go shopping.”

  The woman reached into her basket and pulled out a small bag. She smirked. “Want to try?”

  Sasha peered into the bag at the small brown objects, coated in a powdery spice. “What is it?”

  “Crickets.”

  He scrunched his face and his nose protested in pain. “You eat bugs?”

  The woman shrugged. “I thought Mainlanders were tough.”

  Dusty pulled out a cricket and ate it. “Pretty good.”

  Sasha scowled. “Ew. Don’t try to kiss me now, baby. You are contaminated.”

  The woman laughed. “You guys are funny. I’m Swallowtail. Why are you here? Owl moved here because this is Trav’s home. You two wouldn’t be happier on the Mainland? This must be much different.”

  Sasha gestured to the plants crowding either side of the path. “You have beautiful island. And our friends live here. This seems like nice place to have new life. Are you upset that Mainlanders come to live here?”

  “Not really. No one liked Mainlanders before Owl came here. We all go to the Mainland for our naming quests, see? And it’s scary! There are old abandoned buildings everywhere, and all the people yell at Islanders and spit on us and call us ‘coconuts.’ And people on the roads…” She frowned. “I guess I can see why you guys don’t want to live there either. Anyway, nobody wanted a Mainlander to come here and be rude to us. But Owl is really nice to everyone. When I heard that her brother was moving here, I figured he was nice like her. You’re not her brother, right? It’s the other guy who keeps touching people’s clothes.”

  Sasha and Dusty laughed. He nodded and said, “Yeah. He was clothes maker on Mainland. I am just friend.”

  Swallowtail nodded and smiled. “I’m glad Owl will have some of her own people here now. Oh—does that sound rude? I just think it must be hard to be in a strange place where everyone looks different than you. I know that’s how I felt on the Mainland.” She held out the bag to Sasha. “You sure you don’t want to try, Mainlander? Your consort is tougher than you are.”

  Sasha grinned and kissed Dusty’s temple. “Yes. She is. I am wimp compared to her. I don’t want bug, thank you. Hey, we want to build house here. You know some good places we can look?”

  “Oh, yes, there are some nice spots in the forest above the Elder’s place, and there’s an empty house right near the market. It’s not far from here. The house isn’t too big, but you could always build on it. Especially if you need room for the kids.”

  Sasha’s brows furrowed and he glanced at Dusty, who wore a similar look. “Er, we don’t have kids. Small place is fine.”

  “Oh. Not my place to assume. Anyway, it’s nice meeting you. If you keep going down this path, the empty house has a yellow door and flower boxes in the windows.” Swallowtail smiled and continued down the path.

  Sasha walked in silence with Dusty. She took his hand and glanced at him. “I wouldn’t make a good mother.”

  “That’s not true. You are so good at taking care. But both of us had not great childhood.”

  She bit her lip. “And no kid deserves a prostitute as a mother.”

  Sasha stopped. “That is not you anymore. That is not been you for long time. And what you did in past does not make you now. …Still don’t want kids, but you would be good mom. You cared so much about all the orphans. Taking care of them.”

  “Not as a mom, though. As a fellow orphan.”

  Sasha hugged her. “Well, you don’t need to explain to me anyway. We both already agreed.”

  Dusty nodded, then pointed down the path. “Hey, is that the house?”

  He followed her to a home with a domed roof and flower boxes overflowing with vines, then peered in one round blue window at the dusty, empty interior. “Who you think we need to talk to to see inside? Elder Quietbird?”

  “Probably.” Dusty stood before the window, hands clasped in front of her and her mouth pulled down.

  “You okay, baby? You still thinking about kids?”

  She nodded. “Is it bad that I don’t want any?”

  “No.” He pulled her close. “Just because you got the parts, don’t mean you got to use them. Beside, you going to be busy taking care of me. I am handful.”

  She laughed. “Ain’t that the truth. Mr. Needy.”

  “You take care of me and I take care of you. We don’t need more than that.”

  She planted a kiss on his mouth. “That sounds good.”

  Audio File 63|January 10, 2173|Length: 01:32

  Me and Dusty bought the house near market and are going to make an upstairs. Dusty said that living by ourselves in forest is too quiet and alone. I don’t mind being in town. With upstairs, we will have really nice view of ocean and there is always delicious food smells coming from marketplace. Much better than plastic smell of Hammerlink. Corvin is building ridiculous big house next to beach. Probably going to paint bunch of freaky pictures to put inside too. [laughter] Dewbell say she is going to live there with him because house will be big enough that they can live together without getting on other person’s nerves. Gentlewave only want simple house in forest where he can be alone. But I seen him talking a lot to Trav’s cousin, Mothwing, so I think maybe romance is in the air for him.

  My face is looking pretty good now. Think I’m going to have big scar over my nose, so me and Trav going to be twins. Looking good enough to fly Irina to Mainland in morning. Had to wait until I healed, because gods don’t have busted up faces.

  Sasha sat on the bed in his briefs and a tee shirt, his tablet in his lap. Sunlight pierced through the silky green curtains of their apartment window, throwing long shafts of morning light across the textured clay walls. Corvin’s muffled laughter came through the wall and Sasha shook his head. He wasn’t sure if being in separate homes (as opposed to apartments) once their respective houses were built would be better or worse. On one hand, neither of them would need to pound on the wall when the other was noisy, but on the other, Sasha would miss seeing that weirdo’s face every day. Luckily, Nis was small enough that visiting any of his friends wouldn’t require much of a walk.

  He pushed at his tablet, coasting the drone over Burr. He flew to the outskirts and nosed in toward a large swath of graffiti on a wooden fence. Sasha is watching.

  “Sasha is watching. Where are you?”

  He turned the drone from town, following a dirt road past grassy meadows and orchards of gnarled trees. Beyond the orchards sat a cluster of farmhouses surrounded by barren fields and corralled sheep. Painted across the side of a barn was the same phrase.

  He frowned, dipping the drone toward the open door of the barn. Inside sat a podium and hay bale benches, surrounded by dried flower arrangements and chipped Old World picture frames containing paintings of drones.

  Sasha raised his eyebrows. “I have a church?”

  Melodic humming came from behind the cloaked drone and he turned it around. A woman with dark hair and large glasses in a handmade wire frame picked up a broom and swept errant bits of hay from the barn floor.

  Sasha leaned toward the tablet. “Hey.”

  The woman froze, clutching the broom handle and looking around.

  “This is Sasha.”

  The broom fell to th
e floor and the woman whirled toward the invisible drone, her eyes searching. “Sasha? You’ve come to talk to me?”

  “Yes. Is this my church?”

  “It’s a bit humble to call it that, and surely not what you deserve, but it’s the best we can do.” The woman swallowed and frowned. “Are you upset with me for something?”

  “…I don’t know. Did you guys burn down Russian facility in south?”

  Her face fell. “What? No! We only practice non-violence or defense when necessary. Dispensing justice is your job.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, magnified amber eyes blinking through the thick lenses. “I don’t know who did that, but shouldn’t you? I thought you see everything all the time.”

  Sasha sighed. He turned off stealth mode and the woman’s gaze locked onto the drone. “I am not god, baby. I am only one man—and maybe not even very good one. I killed Winter and shot some slavers with drone, but I cannot see everything all the time. I said that, but it’s not true. You disappointed?”

  She cocked her head. “So you’re a prophet, not a god?”

  “I don’t know what that is. I am just guy with drone. You want to see my face?”

  The woman clasped her hands over her chest. “Yes. I don’t care if you’re not a god. You still did good things and we are trying to carry that on.”

  Sasha turned on the screen and grinned. “This is me. I am Sasha.”

  The woman put her hands to her mouth and whispered something, her face flushing. “I can’t believe I’m looking at you.”

  “You know, I thought this conversation would be different. Thought you guys were crazy cult weirdos burning stuff down and blaming it on me.”

  “No.” The woman sat on a hay bale and crossed her legs, smoothing out her black dress. “My aunt was captured by slavers and you rescued her and the other women. You told her to tell everyone that Sasha saved her and that you are watching all the time. So that’s what we did. People assumed you were the god in charge of all the drones, and would bring The Collapse on us all again if we were wicked.”

  Sasha’s mouth twitched in a frown. I did bring The Collapse again. Just to the rest of the world, not America.

  The woman shrugged. “Even if you’re just a man, you saved my aunt, and stopped Winter’s army from progressing. I’m very grateful to you, and I’d say you’re still worthy of praise and emulation… I tell people at the meetings to be selfless and help each other. I tell them to be more like you. That’s okay, right?”

  Sasha let out an incredulous laugh. I only shot Winter because I had the means and opportunity and the idea just popped into my head. I’m not selfless and helpful— He paused, thinking about giving Dusty all of his tins the first day they met so she would ‘close up shop’ for a week. Then he thought of befriending Corvin and keeping him accountable for his actions.

  He smiled. “Yeah. That’s okay. You keep doing that. Helping each other is always good.”

  “Where are you, Sasha?”

  He hesitated. “Don’t think I should tell you that. Sexy ladies banging down my door to worship me sounds like fun, but don’t think my woman going to like that.”

  “Well, could you visit here again some time? We have meetings on Saturday evenings. It would be incredible if you came back during a meeting and talked to the followers. I’m sure my aunt would love to thank you as well. And the congregation doesn’t need to know that you’re not a god. Most of them are so superstitious that they wouldn’t believe you were just a man anyway.”

  “Well, maybe I could come for surprise visit sometime. But I got my own life going on and can’t fly around rescuing people like I used to.”

  The woman nodded. “I understand. You’re a busy man. Thanks for coming around again. And thanks for everything you’ve done.”

  “Thanks for not being crazy cult weirdo.”

  The woman laughed.

  “Okay. See you.” Sasha shut off the screen and turned stealth mode on. He directed the drone out of the barn and turned for Nis.

  Okay. Things are okay. At least I did one thing right—

  “Hey, babe, check this out.”

  Sasha looked up from the tablet and his eyes widened. Dusty leaned on the door frame wearing a transparent white bra and panty set bedecked with strands of pearls and tiny seashells. He quickly dropped the drone into standby and tossed the tablet aside.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “Corvin made them to go under the wedding dress. Do you think him making me underwear is creepy?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t care. That looks so sexy.”

  Dusty fingered a strand of pearls dangling over her ribs. “He hasn’t started the dress yet, but bought some materials for it. He let me show you these, but said he’s going to be real mad if they get ruined. So hands off.”

  Sasha slumped back onto the bed. “What are you doing? Torturing me?”

  “No. Just means I’ll have to take them off.” Dusty undid the clasp at the center of the bra and shrugged it off. Sasha let out a breath and pulled off his shirt, tossing it away. She set the bra carefully on a chair in the corner, then turned to face him, slowly sliding off the panties and setting them aside, the strands of pearls clacking against the wooden chair seat.

  His heart thumped rapidly as his eyes coasted over Dusty’s petite nude form. This. I did this right too. I never treated Dusty like some throwaway plaything like her johns. Like I used to treat other women before her. And now she wants to marry me and be my wife. Mine forever.

  She walked slowly to the bed, her pillowy lips pulled into a half-smile. Sasha pulled off his briefs and slid down into the satiny sheets. Dusty straddled him and pressed her mouth to his. He sucked at her lip, intoxicated with her skin’s scent. She lowered herself onto him and he held her ample hips, matching her measured rhythm. A groan escaped his lips as she contracted her muscles, holding him tighter. He cupped her breasts, pinching her pink nipples.

  Dusty wrapped her arms around him, her hot breath buffeting his cheek. “Ya tebya lyublyu.”

  “Oh, ya tebya lyublyu, baby.”

  Mine forever.

  Sasha frowned at his reflection, running a hand along his jaw, feeling for errant stubble. He scooped a blob of pomade from a tin on the dresser and applied it to his already styled black waves, then straightened his yellow bow tie.

  “Do I look okay?”

  Corvin clapped him on the shoulder and grinned, then leaned into the mirror and smoothed one eyebrow. “Relax. You look great. You’re going to make all the women weak in the knees. Trust me.”

  “Oh, I feel sick.” The collar of his white button-down shirt constricted uncomfortably. He tugged at it and wiped sweat from his brow.

  Corvin chuckled. “You’ll be fine. And if you faint, it will be my duty as best man to catch you. Now we should get out there.”

  Sasha flexed his clammy, tingling hands and followed Corvin through his stately house. Large cross-sections of seashells, shark jaws, and turbulent oceanscapes adorned the black clay walls. Glass bottles embedded in the high ceiling glowed with refracted sunlight. Sasha stopped near a wooden chair laden with needlepoint pillows and fixed a pearl button on his deep blue vest. Photos in polished silver frames hung above the chair. Corvin and Dewbell smiled in many—and kissed in a few, their arms around each other as the sun dipped into the ocean. Among the others of Trav, Owl, Son of Owl, and Gentlewave (and one creased and faded one of Lucky), hung several of Sasha and Dusty, grinning and hugging.

  Sasha’s heart lurched. Look at us. Look at her. My baby. My beautiful bride.

  Dusty waited in one of these rooms for her cue. He let out a breath, overwhelmed with the urge to find her, hold her, and confess his love all over again. Instead, he caught up with Corvin as he swung open the patio doors and stepped outside. Humid, salty air blew across the back deck from the ocean beyond. A long navy carpet stretched across the beach, white flower petals covering it like mounds of snow. Log-hewn tables and benches flanked either side, cr
owded with Nis’ villagers.

  Sasha stepped onto the carpet, his shiny yellow loafers pushing through the flowers. Trav and Gentlewave, matching Corvin in baby blue vests and bow ties, stood to one side of a carved wooden podium. Dewbell, Owl, and Elder Quietbird’s wife, Seasalt, stood on the other side. Quietbird, dressed in billowy Island garb and a headdress of reeds and flowers, stood behind the podium, baring his pointed teeth in a wide smile. A delicate arch of dried woven vines, painted a sparkly white and studded with yellow flowers, stretched over the podium.

  Corvin took his place beside Gentlewave, and Sasha stood next to him. He grinned nervously at the crowd. Dewbell, as Dusty’s maid of honor, wore a long-sleeved, buttery yellow dress decorated in pearls, her hair tied in braids with shimmery ribbons. Owl and Seasalt wore similar dresses, the gauzy overlays shifting in the breeze. Dewbell smiled sweetly and winked at Sasha.

  Sasha wiped his hands on his tight blue slacks, staring at the thick glass patio doors of Corvin and Dewbell’s house. Seconds passed. He shifted his feet and pulled at his shirt collar. The doors opened and Dusty emerged. Sasha blew out a held breath, wringing his hands anxiously. As she crossed the deck and stepped onto the carpet, he put a hand over his mouth. Hundreds of tiny pearls, shells, and beads covered her white shift dress, embroidered on with yellow thread. The silky material clung to her curves, her black snake tattoo winding under one thin shoulder strap. An airy train trailed from the dress’ back, tugging white petals across the carpet. She wore rope sandals and a shell halo circled her chin-length ringlets of auburn hair. Her lips were baby pink, and she clutched a bouquet of sparkly purple Stargazers.

  She walked carefully—just as she had practiced in rehearsal—but today it felt agonizingly slow. Her gaze locked with his and she smiled. He smiled back and wiped one eye with the heel of his hand. Sasha leaned toward Corvin and whispered. “I have never seen her so beautiful! This dress is gorgeous. You did amazing job. Who curl her hair?”