Right Before Your Eyes

Posted on Fri May 7th, 2021 @ 6:49am by Angel Ramirez & Jinx Jorasco

Mission: Mission 13: Stowaway
Location: Mess hall
Timeline: MD 5/2330
859 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Jinx yawned a bit and stretched. She’d worked way too late again and missed dinner. She shut down her computer and stood up. Zambi perked up from her bed beside the desk, giving an enquiring whine.

“Yes, yes. I know you need a walk and to do your business,” Jinx said. “Come on.”

The first stop was the head down the corridor. Both of them had a spot of business to do. Of course, given their size, it was a lot more difficult. The toilets on the ship were not built for her size. The one in her quarters had been modified, but that was out of the way.

Business done, Jinx pulled out a ball, tossing it down the corridor and watching Zambi dart after it, then bring it back. Then they wrestled a bit with a well-chewed piece of cargo strapping before they finally reached the mess hall.

At this late hour, there weren’t many people in the mess hall. Jinx went to the replicator and got a large T-bone steak, raw, for Zambi, and a bowl of water, and some fried chicken for herself with a glass of iced tea.

Jinx turned to find a table and saw Angel sitting alone. She flushed a bit, remembering their antics during the body swap. She hadn’t really talked to him in a couple weeks since that had been sorted. They had muddled through and not informed the crew what had occurred to avoid a scare.

Jinx walked over to Angel’s table. “This seat taken?” she asked with a sweet smile on her freckled face.

Angel blinked, lifting his head up from his contemplation of his coffee to look down at the diminutive science officer. Why was she talking to him? She never had before.

“Uhm...okay,” the security officer said, pushing aside a plate with the remainder of his fries. “Jinx, right?”

Jinx gave a smile. “Yessir!” she quipped, putting her food on the table and Zambi’s on the floor, and then scrambling up into the chair that was too big for her. “You seemed pretty interested in your coffee there.”

Angel gave a wry smile. “Lifeblood of the gods to us on the night shift.”

“Oh, nightshift. Hard,” Jinx said, biting into her chicken and taking a sip o f iced tea. “Seems a bit more, though?”

Angel shrugged. “it’s nothing. Just...girl problems.” He paused. “Hey, you’re Avalon’s boss, right?”

Jinx blinked. “Yes,’ she said. “Why?”

Angel shook his head. “Is she...all right?” he asked. “A couple weeks ago, I thought she and I hit it off. We had a couple dates. I thought things were going great. We even got a little...passionate.”

Jinx blushed, her memories still a bit hazy on that night.

“I mean, nothing happened,” he assured Jinx. “It was heading that way, but we’d both had a bit too much to drink, and she kind of...passed out before it could go too far. So I left her to sleep. Now, though… I think she’s avoiding me. And when I do manage to catch her to talk, she’s...cold, and always has to be somewhere or do something, so we can’t really hang out. Do you think I...offended her somehow? Did she want me to be more...assertive that night, press the situation? I thought I was being a gentleman.”

“Oh, you were!” Jinx said, too quickly. She blushed. “Uhm, I mean, it sounds like you were very...gallant.”

Angel sighed. “I guess I just don’t...understand, pequeña.”

Jinx blinked. “Pequeña?”

It was Angel’s turn to blush. “Sorry. It means ‘little one’. I’m sorry. I meant no offense.”

Jinx shrugged. “I am little,” she said, “compared to you.” She smiled.

Angel returned the smile. “I’m sure you’re a giant among your own kind,” he said.


Jinx laughed. “Not really,” she admitted. She looked away from Angel’s bedroom eyes. “Maybe...Maybe Avalon just...isn’t the right female for you?”

Angel sipped his coffee. “Maybe,” he said with a sigh. “I really was starting to like her.”

“Maybe what you need is...is somewhere else. Maybe sitting right in front of you.”

Angel looked over his cup at Jinx. He chuckled. “Si?” he asked. “And how would that even work, pequeña?” He grinned. “I mean, it’s funny thinking about it!” He indicated their relative sizes with his hands.

Jinx forced a laugh. “Yeah...funny…”

Angel tossed back the last of his coffee. “Thanks for the talk, Jinx,” he said. “You’re a good friend. Guess I’ll have to resign myself to the ladies in port for a while.” He got up and cleared away his dishes. “Now I have to check in with Leiddem and get to work.”

“Have a nice night,” Jinx said, more subdued. She watched the young Human male leave, and then poked at the remaining chicken on her plate.

“Little one…” Jinx murmured.

Zambi whined and put her head in Jinx’s lap.

“Let’s go, Zambi. Back to our quarters...alone.”

FIN