Stellar Dust 5 - An Old Friend by Isaac Orr

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I'm a pirate."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"Wow." Elenia scanned the shelves of bottles behind the bar. "How's that working for ya?"

Stryler shrugged. "Boring as hell so far, but I don't consider it a permanent career move. Just a hiatus."

Elenia laughed and ordered herself some wine. "Well, piracy doesn't sound like your sorta gig."

Stryler nodded in agreement. "So what brings you to this den of thieves? It's not that long since I saw you last while you were up to something big over near imperial space."

"Working a couple of jobs. Still freelancing."

"Lucky you." Stryler had worked with Elenia several times in the past and they had always made a good team. There were other things they were good at together too, and finding her here had the potential to make his stay a lot less boring.

"How long are you here for?" He asked

She shrugged. "Several weeks at least."

"Well we seem to be in and out of here pretty regular, so we should be able to find some time together. If you'd like to that is."

Elenia smiled warmly. "Of course I'd like to." She slid her stool a bit closer and placed a hand on Stryler's thigh, looking into his eyes. Yup, things weren't going to be boring.

"So." She grinned mischeviously. "You aren't gonna spontaneously throw yourself at my feet this time?"

Stryler blushed just a touch. "Hey, that was my augments. They were brand new. I was having trouble..."

Elenia was laughing. "Hush Stry, I'm just teasing ya." She took a sip of her wine. "That sure was funny though."

Stryler recalled his last meeting with Elenia, when they'd left a bar together on another system half way across the galaxy, both pretty drunk. His new augments hadn't responded well to his altered mental state and Elenia had half carried him back to his room that night. He should have learnt earlier not to ignore medical advice, even if it was from a quack.

"Funny for you maybe. For me it was just embarrassing." He grinned as he finished his beer. "So, wanna hang out here or take a look around town?"

"Is there much to see? I think it's just a buncha crooks getting themselves fucked and wasted."

Stryler drained the last of his beer. "You're right. In that case we could just stay here and get ourselves wasted."

Elenia shook her head. "There's a few places we can go for a walk. Come on." She downed the rest of her wine in one gulp and paid for both their drinks. Grabbing his hand, she led him out of the bar into the busy street.

Stryler woke the next morning to feel the warmth of Elenia's body next to his. He looked over at her sleeping face framed with a shock of red hair and admired it for a moment before sitting up. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Mmnn. Morning Stry."

"Morning hon. How ya feeling?"

Elenia purred. "Great. Going somewhere?"

Stryler grinned. "That depends on if you have any plans for the day."

Elenia shook her head. "Not really."

"Then no."

She giggled.

Stryler and Elenia spent most of the next two days together except for the few hours where Stryler was required to put in some shifts preparing the Anomaly for departure.