Capítulo 12: The star

Ivo knew he was being teased. He knew Davi wanted him to look down so he could make some other smart comment, bait him into a fight perhaps.

So instead he ignored him and turned his back to him, letting the warm water beat down and muffle the sounds of Davi's presence. Seconds later he was gone anyway, and Ivo was once more blissfully alone.

He finished his shower in peace, towelled off and considered the clothes Davi had brought him. A pair of black underwear, black loose shorts, and a loose tanktop with wide arm holes. The clothes looked worn but clean.

Anything was better than a long-sleeved shirt fashioned as a skirt, so for once Ivo wasn't complaining.

He left the bathroom in a cloud of moisture, and found everyone else already seated at the counter.

"Grab a seat," Thiago said with a friendly nod.

Ivo tried not to show his discomfort at having to sit down next to Davi.

Alina and Thiago were sitting on the opposite side of the counter, on the two tall stools. Davi was sitting inside the kitchen module itself, with his legs crossed in an insouciant sprawl and his plate of rice and black beans balanced over his knee.

The only free space was the chair next to him. To reach it, either Davi got up, or Ivo climbed across him.

As Davi didn't give off the faintest impression of wanting to get up, Ivo sucked in his annoyance and approached him with a scowl. At that, Davi looked up at him and raised his plate above his head with derisive look -- as if saying: 'go right ahead'.

There really wasn't much space in the tiny module, so Ivo had no choice but to lift one of his legs over Davi's lap, and brace himself on the rack above his head. For a fraught moment their eyes met while Ivo struggled above him not to lose his balance.

But then he got his other leg across without sending any plates flying to the floor or giving Davi the satisfaction of seeing him make a fool of himself.

He fell down into his chair with relieved exhale.

Alina gave the two of them a confused look over the plate she was filling up for Ivo. "So...that was unnecessarily uncomfortable."

Ivo took the plate when she passed it to him without a word.

Thiago kept eating his food but his eyes drifted between Davi and Ivo with a thoughtful, appraising look. "Tension like that spills over one of two ways: fighting or fucking."

Alina let out a delighted laugh, while Ivo did his best to disappear into his chair, with little success.

"Why not both?" she asked.

Davi scraped the fork against the plate loudly to get the last of the rice onto it, and then twisted around on the chair to dump his plate and utensils on the sink. "How about neither?" he said, standing up with a loud yawn.

He scratched his stomach through his tank top, and left the kitchen. He was halfway to his and Alina's bedroom when he said, "Goodnight."

Ivo was relieved to see him gone, but mortified at being left alone under Thiago's and Alina's scrutiny.

"It's gonna be fun, having the two of you under the same roof for the foreseeable future." Alina's eyes glinted with poorly disguised mirth, Ivo couldn't help noticing she held her knife like a weapon.

"Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to let you guys know I finished the scan." Yunmi's disembodied voice saved Ivo from having to reply.

"Find anything useful?" Thiago asked, turning around to look towards the monitors and the flashing terminal.

"You were right, the security on him is unreal. I can't get anything useful, but I will tell you something. His stuff is legit, premium quality, not our blackmarket stuff."

All eyes turned towards Ivo. He was grateful that at least Davi wasn't there to see yet more damning evidence thrown at him.

"Is it traceable?" Thiago asked, shooting Ivo a worried look. Not much different than when he'd thought he was about to blow up on them.

"Can't say for sure, but it's disabled now either way. I uploaded a muffler. But I wouldn't be too worried either way, because any signal will bounce off all the interference in the tower, and the firewalls on the apartment."

Alina slumped forward on the counter with a relieved sigh. "Well, that's one nightmare avoided." She turned to Thiago with a grin. "Can you imagine the Police Service or the Peacekeepers bursting in here?"

Thiago returned her grin. "Maybe your old friends at the 'Keepers would give us a discount. Riddle us with bullets instead of pulverising us? Is honour among contractors a thing?"

Alina's smile didn't falter, but Ivo noticed it became tighter. "I never had any friends there."

Yunmi apologised once again for not giving them much, and signed off with the promise of trying to find out more about Ivo's datachip, maybe a date of implantation, or name it was registered under.

Alina and Thiago cleaned up the counter while Ivo stood around, wanting to help but not knowing what to do.

"You can brush your teeth and go to bed, you'll be sleeping in mine and Davi's room," Alina said, nodding towards the door Davi had disappeared through.

Thiago flashed him one of his disarming grins. "Sorry kid, but my room gets hot enough with all that tech, I can't share with another person and survive it."

Ivo said his goodnights, and after brushing his teeth stepped into the bedroom gingerly.

The room was even smaller than Thiago's, but Ivo didn't have time to take in his surroundings because all his attention was directed at the window in front of him -- the luminous, blue and pink haze of the city at night -- and Davi standing shirtless in front of it.

Davi had his back to him, and Ivo could see for the first time the true extent of his tattoos. The geometric and architectonic shapes covered his sinuous back in those same monochrome shades of black and grey, with one exception.

Between his shoulder-blades stood a vivid red five-point star. That brilliant red was the only colour Davi had inked into his skin.

Ivo wondered if he touched the star it would feel as warm as it looked.