Laki leapt up, swaying until she could find her footing.
“Oh no, sweetheart. It’s okay, we’ll help you.”
“I don’t know why I’m so emotional over this. I’m a wreck.”
“It’s the smoke,” Laki said squeezing Zaha’s hand. “It makes the highs higher and the lows lower.”
Laki started to edge forward, but she stumbled more than she walked. Her friend stopped her.
“You sit down. I’ll take her, but you better be here when I get back.”
Zaha and Laki hugged each other tightly. Zaha opened her mouth to speak, but Laki silenced her.
“Shhhhh, everything is fine. Everything is beautiful. I love you.”
She kissed Zaha and pushed her away. Zaha left, peeking back until the bodies of the partygoers obstructed her view of Laki.
Laki lay down again and rested her head against the pillows. She closed her eyes and felt the air around her spinning. She opened her eyes. Nothing around her had changed. The pods were still conjoined, hovering near the dim star bar, and the party was still packed with revelers. Laki closed her eyes again and felt her stomach drop. All of a sudden she was alone in her pod and it was rapidly descending. Her pod stopped with a bump.
She opened her eyes and jerked upright. All around her, people were dancing and coupling; the blue haze still colored the air. She exhaled and lay against the pillows again. When she closed her eyes again she felt herself drifting into another time. She actually saw herself in her pod. Then she heard a voice that was so deep it was disorienting say: “Sorry about that.”
She knew that voice. It belonged to a stranger who had skin that was as dark as hers, but whose teeth were more perfect. His hair was locked and tied into wild knots all over his head. She saw him lounging with a bemused grin on his face as his pod began to fuse with hers. She opened one eye to peek out at the party once more. It was still there. Then she closed her eyes and gave herself to memory.
A hole was opening in her pod.
“I should be more careful,” the stranger with the deep voice apologized. He stuck his hand into the gradually widening hole between their pods. “It seems we’ve fused unintentionally. I’m Fogo, and you are?”
Laki jumped to her feet and grabbed his hand. “Laki.”
By the time the hole became large enough for him to step through, Laki had arranged her body in a casual but confident stance.
“Ahh,” Fogo sighed, “you seem to be a little wet.”
Laki shot him a look of faux irritation. “Our little accident triggered the shower module.”
“Well, come over,” Fogo invited with the wave of his hand. “I’ve got some heat and a little star juice.”
“You drink in your pod?”
“Sometimes, but don’t tell the regulators.”
“How do you know I’m not a regulator?”
“Besides the fact that I know all the regulators in the Stretch, I can tell just by looking at you that you’re a regulator’s nightmare.”
Fogo winked, and Laki’s insides shivered. She glanced up at the ceiling of his pod and saw that his marriage belt was still there, casting a seductive golden glow. When he noticed her looking, he sighed.
“Yep, maturation 25, and I’m still hanging out in the Velvet Stretch.” He waved his fingers over his drink portal. “Star juice?”
She stood facing him, looking right into his eyes, then taking in his whole face as if reading his history. He took her hand and brought it up to the drink portal. Laki dropped her head back and opened her mouth beneath the drinking spout.
“So,” Fogo said after Laki had drunken her fill, “what brings you to the Velvet Stretch?”
Laki turned away. “It’s a long and tragic story. I’d rather not go into it.”
“But, you shouldn’t be hanging out here. You look like you’re almost to maturation, if you’re not there yet. No profession as far as I can tell.” His eyes roamed up to the ceiling of her pod. “No marriage belt?”
Laki walked to the center of their conjoined pods and sat on the floor. She leaned back on the palms of her hands. Her gaze wandered over the bare stretches of his neck, lingering over his throat and collarbone. She explored the cut of his arms, the length of his legs.
“You are not fond of this topic?” he asked.
Laki looked down at her waist. She rubbed her finger over the space where Pemfi’s marriage belt would be resting had she accepted it, and shrugged. “Marriage belts are useless. I just turned one down.”
Fogo drew back, “You aren’t one of those mother-unit radicals, are you?”
Laki placed her hands flat on the floor. She stretched, lifting her hips until her legs were fully extended. She stood and walked slowly over to Fogo. She stopped when her face was a few breaths from his.
“Do I look like a fucking mother-unit radical to you?”
Fogo shook his head before speaking. “No, no you don’t.”
Laki put her arms around Fogo and grasped his hips. She felt the ravenous lust of her younger days rising from slumber. Maturation was at her back. Why not? she thought. Why not? She flicked her tongue over his lips.
“So are you hanging out rendezvous-less because you want to be alone or…”
Fogo drew away.
“Forgive me, but a woman of your… stature really shouldn’t be here. Unless you think this is preferable to marriage, but even this doesn’t last forever.”
“Auggh,” Laki groaned and threw her hands up in the air. She strode over to her pod and leaned back to begin de-fusing. “Fogo,” she said, “It was wonderful meeting you.” She crossed her arms and waited for the pods to separate.
“Wait,” Fogo yelled. He grabbed his marriage belt and jumped into her pod. “I didn’t mean to irritate you, it’s just that…”
“Look,” she said, “I’m three days from maturation, and you’re sexy as hell. No, I don’t have a profession. No, I don’t have a marriage belt. In three, no, two days I’m going to join a mother-unit, but whether or not I should be here is none of your business!”
Fogo wrapped his arms around Laki’s waist and squeezed her softly.
“Shhhh,” he said, “shhh. I didn’t mean to upset you. Put your arms up.”
Laki put her arms up. “Maturation! It’s all anybody wants to talk about. When did the Velvet Stretch become such a defect?” She felt Fogo lifting his hands behind her. Then he was maneuvering something over her head. “What are you doing?”
She looked down and saw his marriage belt shining gold around her waist. She felt a wild burst of adrenaline pulse through her chest.
Fogo stepped back, eyeing the full length of her. “Very sexy.”
Laki opened her mouth, but could not speak—she could only sputter.
“Bet that doesn’t happen often.”
“What, I get to try on some rich guy’s marriage belt?”
“No, you are rendered speechless.” Fogo grabbed the belt and pulled her to him. “So you want to get sent into the mother-unit with a bang?”
Laki stared into his face, then started laughing. “This is unbelievable.”
She flicked her hand over the time module, but no time appeared. Fogo grabbed her hand and kissed it.
“Let’s do this by starlight,” he murmured.
He waved his hand behind him, and his pod went dark. He rubbed his pelvis against hers softly. Whatever reservations Laki had been harboring dissolved instantly. Laki extinguished the light in her pod, and the glow of the Stretch illuminated their pods, bathing them in starlight.
For a few brief seconds there was no movement. Laki and Fogo just stood there drinking each other in. Then Laki grabbed the front of his cloth and pulled him close. She pressed her lips against his, urgently and impatiently, but he was full of unhurried languor. When she offered him her mouth, he savored it, sucking gently on her lips while she was anxiously pushing her tongue through his teeth. Laki abruptly pulled away.