Cataclysmic Evolution - 11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

“Did you get a jacket?” Barron asked Revi. He’d been helping hand out cold weather clothes they’d remade from turned in lightweight clothing people had packed. The ship’s resources were strained, but no one had come prepared for cold. It was late spring, nearly summer, when they left Earth, and they’d headed for a tropical planet—or so they thought. Barron shook his head. Like expect the unexpected shouldn’t have been drilled into all their heads.

“Not yet.”

“Good.” Barron pulled one out from under the counter where he was taking chits and scanning them into the computer. “I thought you might like this. It’s black, I’m told.” The coat was slim, but with the interlocked heat wave that would capture and hold Revi’s body heat, regulating the temperature with a small control panel on the base of the front seal connection.

“It’s really soft.”

“Reminded me of your hair.” Barron felt his face heat. He braced himself against the counter, fighting the urge to hide behind it.

Revi grabbed Barron’s hand from the edge of the counter, forcing him to let go. “Relax. You’re so tense. I like the jacket a lot. Thank you.”

Barron smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Here’s my chit.” He pressed it into Barron’s hand. Barron scanned and handed it back after he heard the machine beep.

“I’ll come back later and get you before dinner. Right now we’re assembling parts of the habitat housing that will fit into the shuttles.” Thavin had been right. The scientists and top military officials went down in shuttles to verify that living on the planet was feasible before beginning the process of building the habitats. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

That would be hard to manage. “We might have to skip dinner then.”

“Maybe.”

Working through the afternoon with a ‘we need to talk’ type of conversation hanging over him made Barron nervous. Talks were never a good thing.

Finally, he was able to shut down the scanner. He slid his hand around the counter as he walked to the front, then hopped up on the bare edge to wait. The lines had all disappeared, and other than the workers creating more clothing and gear and stowing it in the appropriate bins, it was quiet. Barron appreciated the feeling of space, and the solitude.

“Barron.”

He jumped.

“Careful. Don’t fall off.”

Revi worried a little too much. Barron snorted and hopped off the counter. He’d felt the area in front and knew how high it was. He was fine. He was getting more comfortable in his inability to see, and that made his life easier physically, if not mentally.

He still struggled with Dr. Samuels’ caution that his eyesight might not be repairable. He reached out his hand and held his breath until Revi took it. If their talk had anything to do with the kiss, and sleeping in the same bunk, surely Revi wouldn’t hold his hand. He’d be back to guiding Barron by counting steps.

Right? Barron couldn’t answer his own question. They headed back to D level. Everyone on their section was in the cafeteria or working, so they actually had some time alone.

“You’re wearing the coat. Did you go down to the planet?” Barron asked.

“I did.”

Why was he back? “I thought only military was going down. How’d you manage that?” He worked hard to keep any accusation out of his voice.

“My dad, of course. He tried to make me stay, but I reminded him that he’d paired us up. The captain’s in charge, ultimately, and he insists that everyone have a partner for safety. Since my father paired us up through the disciplinary board, he couldn’t get away with separating us.”

Barron frowned.

“Why are you frowning? This is good. It means we stay together.”

“It means you’re stuck on the ship with me, instead of on a new planet getting to experience things firsthand.” That’s what it really meant. How long before Revi resented the burden Barron represented until his eyes were fixed?

If they got fixed. Barron tried to erase that thought as soon as it popped into his head, but it was too late. He’d tried so hard not to even think about it.

“No, stupid, that’s not what it means.” Revi pounced and shoved him onto his back on his bunk. “It means to grab your stuff and the book. We go back down on the first shuttle in the morning.”

Barron stared up toward his face. “Really?”

“Yup.” Revi leaned forward and removed Barron’s glasses. The light blinded him at first, but not completely like it had at first. He could make out the vague outline of a shadow, but the only place he saw Revi’s face was in his memory. “Really, really.”

Oh. Kissing Revi sent his heart racing. Barron bent his legs, and Revi settled between them, their lips never separating. Barron cradled Revi’s face and thrust his tongue in Revi’s mouth.

“Mmm.” Revi wiggled closer. Their erections rubbed together. Barron grunted and thrust up, starting a rough rhythm. His feet slid on the smooth blanket.

Revi moaned and tore his mouth away. He pressed his head against the pillow next to Barron’s head and panted. His breath tickled the short hair on Barron’s neck.

“Damn!” Barron ran his hands down Revi’s back and palmed his ass. Toned, just enough to grip in each hand… definitely as nice as he’d imagined.

“We’re… We’re gonna get busted.” Revi ground down, rocking his hips. He wrapped an arm under Barron’s and held onto his shoulder.

“Don’t care.” It’d been so long. Revi squeezed Barron’s hip. Barron was primed and ready to erupt. He fought to hold off, but it was no use. “Gonna come.”

Revi nodded. “Uh-huh.” They ground together. Barron needed just a little more. He braced his feet against the mattress and thrust, pulling Revi down so hard it nearly hurt.

“Ugh.” His breath caught, and his toes curled. Barron shot into his pants, his hips stuttering. Revi moaned, but kept moving.

“Close.” Barron fought off the fog threatening to descend. He reached around inside Revi’s pants and palmed his bare flesh. Hot and throbbing, Revi’s slender prick was sticky and dripping.

He stroked down to the base, then slid his hand up to the head and squeezed.

“Fuck.” Revi drew out the word. Hot cum spurted over Barron’s hand. It made a huge mess. Barron grimaced and slid his hand out carefully, wiping it on his shirt.

Revi went limp on top of him. They rested, trying to catch their breath.

“So we’re going to Paradise?”

“Weren’t we just there?”

Barron snickered. “Oh, that’s awful. You shouldn’t make jokes.”

“Stop laughing, you’re jiggling me. I’m trying to relax here.”

“I don’t jiggle.”

Revi poked Barron in the side. “Sure you do.”

“Do not. And I’m not ticklish.” Barron laughed when Revi growled. “Bet you are, though.” Revi squirmed and tried to get away but Barron held him close, holding him down with one arm across his back and used the other to mercilessly tickle Revi’s ribs and side.

Barron grunted when Revi flailed and smacked him in the head with his arm. “Ow!”

“Serves…” Revi panted. “Serves you right!”

“Okay, okay. Truce.”

Revi dropped a firm kiss on Barron’s lips. “Truce.”

“Do that again.” Barron hadn’t been in a relationship in over a year. Having someone to touch, and be touched by, felt amazing.

“Mmm… no.” Revi scooted back. “We should go clean up. Kissing you is the exact opposite of what I should do, unless we want everyone to know what we were doing.”

“No way. Can you imagine the field day the guys would have with this? They were bad enough this morning when we hadn’t come in our pants like pre-teens.” Barron swung his legs over the side of the bed. He found his pack. “Pajamas?”

“Sounds good. I’m not very hungry.”

“You sure?” Barron found a pair of sleep pants and a sleeveless shirt.

“Yeah.”

Barron balled up his clothes in his clean hand. “Okay. Ready.”

They went into separate showers. Barron couldn’t wait to see Revi, though he loved touching him too. Until then, a little privacy didn’t hurt.

Good thing, too, because when they got out of the shower people were coming in.

“Hey, Barron, Revi. You guys missed dinner.”

“Bet I know why.”

“William, shut up.” Barron refused to blush. He wouldn’t blush. Creed, Thavin, and William started laughing.

He was so blushing.

“Go do whatever. Just stop bugging me.” Barron didn’t need to see them. He could hear William just on his left. He cuffed him on the shoulder. “Jeez, William, cackle much? Let’s go,” he said to Revi.

They went over to the bunks. Barron had dumped his clothes in the cycler in the bathroom to get them clean. He didn’t bother folding them, just shoved them into his pack. He checked everything else. It was all still there, so he was ready to go to Paradise. “You wanna read?”

“I could do that.”

Barron settled on the bed, holding No Surrender. “Before you start, why don’t you tell me about Paradise? You haven’t mentioned it at all.”

Revi climbed in beside him. He didn’t leave space between them this time, curling in close from the start. “It’s cold. There’s nothing living on the surface. Literally… nothing. Where we landed was rock, loose soil, and more rock as far as I could see.”

“So utter desolation.” Barron sighed. “Can we survive there, do you think?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Revi?”

“I don’t know. At least it’s a planet. The air isn’t toxic, though there’s a really weird smell. I could hear the water moving, but the wind was whipping like crazy. Kinda spooky, the way it was whistling. Everyone going down will be issued glasses to cover their eyes to keep the dust out. The air was full of it.”

At least his sunglasses wouldn’t be so out of place. “So you didn’t see any plants?”

“Not one, but I didn’t get out of the shuttle. It was too damn cold. I just handed things to people who were already equipped to handle the weather.”

That was strange. “Huh.”

“You wanna keep talking, or should I start reading?”

“You can read now.” Revi turned over onto his back, and Barron leaned against him, sliding one hand across his stomach.

Revi squeaked. “Stop that.”

“Sorry.” Barron grinned. He hadn’t been trying to tickle Revi.

“Do you want me to read or not?”

No way did he want to miss out on hearing that voice, especially since he’d read No Surrender so many times. He could listen to Revi without having to pay much attention to the words’ meanings. “Read, read.” Barron was drowsy and close to falling asleep in no time. He slid a leg over Revi’s and sighed. No way was Revi getting away now.

A hand on his shoulder woke Barron.

“Mr. Pernell. Mr. Porter.”

Barron lifted his head. “What?”

Mr. Hodge chuckled. “You haven’t changed that much.”

He had, just not in the way Mr. Hodge could tell.

“Colonel Porter put out a call for those going down to Paradise. That’s you.”

Barron rubbed at his eyes with the heel of one hand. Revi mumbled against his neck and then rolled over. “Okay.” He yawned. “We’re up. Thanks.”

Revi slid off the other side of the bunk and Barron rolled over. He grabbed his bag. Groping around on the bed, he found the book and stuck it inside. “I’m going to go get changed.”

He made it to the bathroom before he realized they never talked to the guys last night. They’d be pissed if Barron left without telling them. Damn. Barron ran a hand through his hair. He put on a set of sturdy jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. He’d get his coat out of the compression pocket on the side later. It’d be too hot on the ship and shuttle, otherwise.

The door slid open. “Revi?”

“No.”

“Thavin?”

“Yep. You figured you’d head on down to the planet and not say good-bye? Thoughtless asshole.” Thavin’s voice lacked any real heat.

“I was just going to wake you guys up.”

“Revi beat you to it,” Creed said.

“Yeah, he’s considerate of what friends mean.” William was there too. Revi woke all of them up. Barron smiled. “He’s not abandoning his best friends.”

“I’m not going that far, and you’ll be down before long. Suck it up, you saps. Besides, you get to stay up here, where it’s warm and there are showers and shit. We’re gonna be camping on an alien planet, freezing our nuts off. You think I wouldn’t make you guys suffer through that with us, if I could?” Barron’s voice was rough. He reached out and grabbed whoever was closest, pulling them into a hug. “Come on. Group thing.” He’d hugged the guys in the last few months more than he ever had before, but they all needed one another. Barron wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t need his friends.

They were his family, after all.