by SA Payne
professional."
"Okay, that's it, this conversation is over with." He was blushed bright red now, he could feel it.
Apparently he wasn't too drunk to be embarrassed.
"Just for a couple of days, nothing long term. Mary wanted to send your name into one of those mail order spouse companies."
"Stop." He stood up and got Will up off his sofa by pulling on the man's collar. "Go home to your wife, Will, just pretend tonight didn't happen. If there is any mercy in the universe you'll be too drunk to remember this conversation." He led the other man toward his door.
"Order the doll, Ichi, you'll be so much happier. It's just a sex toy for Gods sake, it's not even immoral or kinky."
Which made Ichi wonder just what his friend would consider kinky. "Out! Go home!"
"Think about it, order it and you can always store it away if you don't like it. When have you done anything for yourself?" He asked as the door shut on his face. He stood, drunk and a little
disappointed to be so rudely tossed into the hall, until he turned and made his way to his own set
of rooms and his awaiting wife.
Ichi leaned on his door and locked it. He was the only person on the station that locked their
doors out of habit, none of the folks from Avalon ever did. Which seemed insane to him, given
all that they'd lived through but Ichi had grown up locking doors and so continued to do so. He
was alone now, in his empty apartment, in his silence and facing the unhappy task of writing
Andrew to explain.
Before he could figure out what to say, his screen beeped with an incoming call. There wasn't a
long list of people willing to pay the cost of talking to him live so he answered it carefully but his face lit up with a smile when Andrew appeared.
"Hey." Ichi slurred out. "I was just about to write you."
"Ichi, I just saw the shut down order on the news, are you okay? That's not your station right?
The one with the murders and bombings? And are you drunk?" Andrew frowned.
"Yeah, a little and no, it's not mine."
"Since when did you start drinking?"
He rubbed at his head. "It's a social experiment."
"Will you be able to make the conference?"
Ichi sat down. "It doesn't look promising."
"That's a shame, Steve was looking forward to meeting you."
"Steve?" The name was one he'd heard. "Your assistant, Steve?"
"The one, he's coming with me to the conference."
Ichi's alcohol muddled mind too a moment to process the look he saw on Steve's face. "You're
sleeping with him."
"What of it?"
"Andrew, he's nineteen and yoùre, yoùre old enough to be his father."
"You know I don't sleep with anyone over thirty."
Ichi had just turned thirty two. "But, I'm over thirty."
"And I thought we had an understanding about that, Ichi, it's never been more than friendly,
right?" Andrew asked carefully.
He was too drunk to have his normal control so some of the suddenly stunned, pained shock
slipped onto his face but Ichi quickly rubbed his eyes and shook it off. "Of course, I'm sorry." He held up his glass before taking a long swallow. "I'm drunk and not thinking clearly." He suddenly felt like an idiot.
Andrew didn't look convinced but he nodded. "Okay, so, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine, this is actually a good thing. I've so much work to do and the swarm is touchy about strangers taking care of them so it's better if I don't leave them alone for so long, this really is a good thing. I don't like traveling all that much anyway and I can't afford to get a sunburn again."
He knew he was babbling but he was afraid if he stopped he'd just sit like a stunned animal
unable to speak at all.
"And, we're okay, right? You and I?"
Ichi nodded. "Of course."
"Well, good, I was worried about you." He glanced off camera. "I need to run, I promised I'd pick Steve up for dinner."
"Of course." He heard himself repeating like an idiot.
"It was good to see you, Ich, you look good."
That made him flush again, but he wasn't sure if it was from pleasure or anger. "Thanks, you
too."
"Write to me?"
"I will." He promised when he wanted to throw his glass at the screen and shout. Hating that manners and control prevented him from doing what he wanted. The screen went black for a
second and than flicked back to the custom made doll that slowly spun in a circle to be
inspected. "Oh, my." Ichi sighed and slumped forward over his knees, suddenly feeling
lightheaded. "oh."
This was why he didn't date, he always got dumped and that hurt too much. Will, outgoing,
laughing, fun to be around Will, didn't understand that. When, if, he'd ever been dumped, he
could see Will shaking it off. Ichi didn't shake anything off, rejection clung to him like sticky
fingers.
He rolled he half empty glass in his hands and picked up the mostly empty bottle. If ever there
was a night to get really drunk, this one was it. He finished the contents of the cup in quick
swallows and proceeded to drink straight from the bottle.
Part Two:
The happy, helpful chiming of Ichi's alarm clock set his head to screaming. For a man that hadn't
ever consumed more than a glass or two of wine or sake during the course of his lifetime, waking
up with hangovers had been far from uncommon during the last few years. To his station mates
credit, they rarely actually got drunk but the consumption of alcohol was a cultural sign of good
times so even if it was watered or not even touched, every get together had something. He'd
long since learned that most days, the jug of punch was often untouched and the kettles of tea
were emptied. It was only on special occasions, celebrations and sorrows, that they actually got
drunk and Ichi had been holding his own right beside them.
He groaned and sat up, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth which felt stuffed with cotton.
"Alarm, off." He ordered and tried to remember why he hadn't made it to his bed the night before.
The empty bottle of home brew made it pretty clear that he'd simply drank where he sat and
fallen asleep on his own sofa.
He staggered to his feet and stumbled to his kitchen. It was a sad day when he would find the
hangover cure before the bathroom. Then again, it was more sad that he'd sat alone drinking. All
because of Andrew and his obsession with younger men, which Ichi had known about from day
one and hadn't worried over. Thirty had seemed like a lifetime away when he'd been in university
and he'd been too busy with work to really notice he'd slipped past that mark.
He shook out one of the dissolve tabs, the size of his thumbnail and mint fresh for the removal of the hangover vomit taste, and popped it on his tongue. It happily melted and instantly hit his
bloodstream. Before he could turn on his morning tea, his headache started to dim and his
stomach settled. With steadier hands he peeled off his shirt and moved to shower and change
for the new day.
As he crossed his living room his feet froze and into his mind crept just what was glowing across
his vid screen. "Oh, my, God."
The PETS Companion Doll, custom made, that Will had wrangled him into making still spun in a
small circle but over it was now plastered information. A shipment date was flashing in one
corner and across the top repeated the words "Thank you for your order, your request has been
processed."
Ichi's stomach turned over and he ran for his bathroom
.
"I'm never drinking again." Ichi announced when he'd finally settled his nerves, cleaned up for the day and managed to find his way to Will's lab. Amanda, gratefully, wasn't in yet or had been
in and was currently off seeing to station business.
Will just glanced over to his friend who outwardly appeared none the worse for the wear of the
previous night. "You always say that and you always drink again. The threat is loosing it's
strength."
"I'm serious this time." He dropped his screen notebook beside Will and dropped himself onto an empty stool. "I am never, ever, drinking again."
Will paused his work and glanced to the screen that glowed beside him. It took a moment but
when understanding dawned he started laughing. "You didn't."
"Apparently, I did."
"And you don't remember it?"
"Of course I don't!" He hissed back, trying not to blush and praying Amanda wouldn't walk in.
"What am I going to do?"
"Cancel the order."
"I've already spent the entire morning trying, they don't accept cancellations."
"They must get a lot of hung over calls the morning after an order is placed."
"Will, what am I going to do?" Nothing in his experience prepared him for this.
"I would have thought a man of your age wouldn't need instruction." He teased dryly just to make Ichi blush.
"Will."
"What were you doing drinking after I left anyway? You know better." He scolded but picked up the notepad to read the fine print.
"Andrew, well, it's complicated."
"Un-complicate it for me."
"He doesn't get involved with men over thirty, I forgot and well, he's now seeing his nineteen year old assistant." He sighed and rubbed at his eyes, relishing the sharp pain.
"Ouch. You know, you picked him because you knew he'd eventually dump you." He kept
scanning the fine print, hoping to find àmy friend was drunk and wants to cancel his order
clause' and not finding one.
"Don't, not right now, Will."
"You avoid intimacy like the plague, and trust me, I've seen people avoid the plague. There's
more to life than your creepy bugs. I'm actually impressed you placed the order, proves you're
human after all." He grumbled.
"I like bugs, they're nicer than humans." His stomach felt sick again, he told it to shut up. "What am I going to do?"
"Well, it doesn't seem like you can get out of the order, so you're going to be the proud owner of your own sex doll. Who's going to know? I mean, I won't tell anyone, you won't tell anyone and if
anyone finds out, tell them to walk to the nearest air lock and go swim in vacuum. No one here
will care, so why worry about it. It'll show up in ahh..." he glanced down. "About three months, I'll help you move the crate to your room, no one will know."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
The ban on travel in Avalon space was lifted a few weeks later and the small research station
paid it little mind. Ichi, with no further plans to go on holiday, tossed himself into his work with not looking back. He didn't follow the news and the growing scandal of the Flossin Guard exposure.
Neither did he take too much notice to the fact that a new push to expose the harsh treatment
and condition of Avalon citizens during the occupation was started by a Captain Elliot Gore, a
decorated Concord Fleet officer. It was a bit of news that had his Avalon station mates buzzing in
concerned distraction as Elliot Gore was the son of the commanding General that had torn their
world apart.
It didn't matter to Ichi personally, he didn't belong to their world and he had his work to focus on.
For weeks, as Elliot Gore's efforts to bring about reparations for the harm his father had done
was first met with suspicion and than grudging admiration, Ichi moved around the station as a
virtual ghost. It was just what his uneasy, battered ego needed, the solitude of work and his pets
to regain his sense of self that had been bruised with Andrews rejection, his canceled plans and
his own stupidity.
When three months came and no crate arrived in Jos Harvick's hold, Ichi sighed a breath of
relief. Maybe they'd lost his order, he wouldn't protest it. Or maybe his order had been lost in
shipment, it wasn't common but it wasn't unheard of either. It could have happened and it would
have been a blessing. He didn't really care so long as that three month window came and went
and nothing with his name attached to it arrived.
So two months later he'd nearly forgotten the order placed one drunken night, even if his mind
still shied away at the shocked pain of being dropped by his part time lover. He had his hands
full, his swarm had laid eggs. Something that had never occurred in captivity before, no one had
even observed them mating even. Ichi had been near giddy with delight, as proud as any parent,
and he'd been pouring over weeks of recordings trying to spot their mating. It had him distracted
enough that he'd lost track of days and had forgotten that Jos Harvick was due back at their
station, he wasn't just due, but over due.
"Hey! Ichi!" Will poked his head into the small lab.
"Shhh, they're building a nest for the eggs." On a whim, he'd provided his swarm with different bedding material, of different styles, and the group had chattered happily before starting to
weave a complex nest. He'd been watching them for hours, taking notes as he went, it was better
to see it live anyway.
"You're taping it right?"
Ichi nodded and kept his eyes on the enclosure.
"Well, good because Harvick is docking and there's an extra couple of boxes with your name on
them in his manifest."
"What do you mean?" He asked, quickly keying in a note about the males being skittish about getting knocked inside the growing nest.
"Your order." Will prompted.
"My order?" He frowned and thought and than remembered and blushed. "Oh, I'd hoped they'd lost it."
"I promised you I'd help you move it but it if sits in the cargo hold for too long people will notice.
So, tape your morbid friends and get moving." He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no
one was in the hallway.
"Right." Suddenly, watching the nest being built didn't seem the most important thing. "Do you think we can talk Mr. Harvick into just taking it back? Return to sender or something?"
"This is Avalon, there is no return to sender option on shipments and besides he'll want to know why and what it is and I don't think you want to answer those questions."
"God, no." He didn't want anyone knowing. "You didn't tell Amanda did you?" He'd never thought to ask until now but the idea that she might know made him uncomfortable.
"Of course not, I haven't said a word." He hurried them through empty hallways which wasn't unusual during the day but something had his nerves uneasy.
When they reached the cargo hold, he knew why. Ichi froze just inside the door, stunned and
unsure if he could turn and run before he was noticed. There were seventeen people on the
station, not counting himself and Will that meant there were fifteen others. A dozen of those
fifteen waited in the hold, talking and laughing, two of the women poked at the boxes stacked to the side and marked with the PETS logo and Harvick stood in a small group talking and waving a
notebook around with his wide, ranging hand motions.
"Will..." His blood froze and suddenly, the idea that his swarm might one day escape and
consume him slowly over days no longer was the worst fate he could think of.
"I didn't say a word,
I swear." Will hissed back but he eyed his wife near the boxes laughing.
Amanda glanced up when her husbands eyes fell on her and she smiled widely. "Ichi! Hurry up
and open it, we're dying to see!"
Suddenly, a thirteen pairs of eyes swung his way and a half dozen different conversations ended.
He felt the blood drain from his face and his pulse pounded in his ears. It was just a matter of
time before he turned on his heel and hurried back to his lab to die of embarrassment or until he
flat out passed out from shame, he knew it. "How do they know?" He managed to whisper, not really asking Will.
Will pulled on his friends arm and got him moving. "They're Avalon, we're nosy bastards. Secrets tend to get out around us, I'm sorry."
"What's everyone doing here?" Ichi managed to ask when Will dragged him into the storage
room. The large doors were open and the tube connected Harvick's ship's main hold to their
storage hold, it cast a pinkish glow to that corner of the large room.
"Hush, we all known." Amanda smiled. "Open it up, Ichi, we want to see." A chorus of agreement followed.
"But, it's nothing..." he tried to lie and knew it sounded like a lie. Besides, they had an uncanny knack at knowing when people were lying.
"Aw, I told them Ichi." Harvick nodded, looking proud.
"You what?"
"Here, look." Harvick moved forward pushing buttons on his notebook as he went. He set it down and it projected a message upwards.
It was the same generic woman that illustrated PETS promotional brochures. She flickered a
little and solidified into a slightly glowing and very fake looking spokeswoman. "Congratulations,"
there was a pause, just a fraction too long to make it pretty clear that the message was generic
and the specifics were simply plugged in. "Kenichi Vitorui of," another half beat too long pause.
"Avalon Station S14592." Her fake smile broadened as she stared off to a point a good distance from where Ichi actually stood. "You've been randomly selected to receive a free upgrade. From time to time, here at PETS Companion division, one of our Living Companion models doesn't
quite meet our expectations. When this occurs, if its at all possible and compatiable, we upgrade