In the cold of space you find the heat of suns

Thanks for the reviews. I am amazed how much they help me keep writing.

There is one short scene in this written specially for Arigatomina.

I guess this is my equivalent of a 'lemon' - hope you like it.

Spacer crews travel the Far Borders and the Fringe of occupied space, trading. Spacing is an ancient and honourable profession carved out by millenniums. Most spacers start out as fourteen-year-old boys seeking a future. Few survive a decade spacing.

23. Haku

Shikamaru, Shino and Ibiki sat in the galley. They were playing a children’s card game that Shino had taught them. They had chosen it because the game was mostly random chance, meaning that Shikamaru did not win immediately or have to pretend to lose. Unfortunately, games based purely on randon chance were not particularly engaging or challenging so they had started to gamble on the outcomes, running the risk of having to endure Iruka’s ‘dangers of gambling’ lecture if he caught them. They played with half an eye on the crew room.

Shino froze halfway through a move at the all-too familiar sound of Sasuke’s pre-orgasmic gasping.

“By the Lady, not again,” Ibiki groaned. “We have to make sure Naruto never, ever has a near death experience again. All those boys have done since Farrellez is fuck.”

The slightest suggestion of a deep-throated growl joined the gasping.

Shikamaru slumped. “It’s going to be one of those.”

“We could sound one of the alarms,” suggested Shino.

Shikamaru guessed he was joking. It was often difficult to tell.

“We might be able to get Iruka to run some drills,” Ibiki replied.

“Not this time,” Shikamaru said, gesturing in the direction of Iruka and Kakashi’s bunk.

A brief gap in the gasping and growling revealed sounds confirming that Iruka and Kakashi were similarly engaged.

Shino and Shikamaru grinned at each other. Shino dashed to raid their secret stash of whisky while Shikamaru produced the gambling chips. Ibiki swept away the cards and produced dice.

“Should we get Jiraiya or Rin?” Shino asked.

“Not Jiraiya,” Shikamaru advised; he was almost sure that the old pervert had a camera in the young lovers’ bunk and would be enjoying the live show. “Rin may appreciate being invited.”

“I’ll call her,” Ibiki volunteered.

Rin was bad at dice but remarkably able to consume huge quantities of whisky without any ill effects. Shikamaru suspected she had nanobots programmed to keep her blood alcohol from going over a threshold. Shikamaru was brilliant at dice but his judgement began to go off after a few drinks. Shino was consistently mediocre and drank steadily. Ibiki drank very fast and then had to be constantly reminded not to start singing, even if Iruka was unlikely to hear it over the crescendo of sound from Sasuke and Naruto, particularly when distracted by Kakashi.

They did pause for Sasuke’s climax, it seemed rude not to.

What they did not expect was for Sasuke to pad into the galley wearing nothing but the white silk shirt they had bought on Tarrasade, which was technically long enough to be decent but made him look a thousand times more fuckable than if he had been naked. He smiled dreamily at them and began collecting provisions, doubtlessly to sustain him and Naruto through another session. Shikamaru found himself watching Shino trying not to come in his pants because it was less stressful than looking at Sasuke. There was the sound of a chair being moved and Shikamaru froze momentarily at the mental picture of Sasuke climbing up on the chair to get something from one of the top cupboards. There was a good chance Shino would pop a blood vessel or, worse, lay a hand on Naruto’s Sasuke. They were rescued by Rin, who hopped up on the chair before Sasuke could do so.

“Let me get that for you, sweetie,” she said, “otherwise these boys are going to have heart attacks.”

Shikamaru found himself incapable of not looking at Sasuke’s reaction. The initial scowl at the pet name was chased away by a mind-blowingly gorgeous flush of embarrassment. He heard Shino groan, or maybe it was him, or Ibiki, or all of them. Rin quickly loaded everything into a basket, pushed it into Sasuke’s hands and guided him to the door.

“Damn it, you three, remember who he is,” she complained as she sat back down at the table.

“You called him ‘sweetie’,” Shikamaru retorted.

“Did I? At least I didn’t give him a eyes-only version of a gang bang.”

Shino made an incoherent noise, drained his glass, filled it and drained it again.

“What gang bang?” Iruka asked icily from the doorway.

So they had to sit through the ‘dangers of gambling’ and the ‘dangers of alcohol’ lectures delivered by an Iruka who had his hair down and was wearing only loose silk pyjama pants that looked like they would yield their tenuous hold on his hips with the slightest of tugs. Then, as Shino and Shikamaru were tidying up the galley, Sasuke and Naruto started on what was obviously going to be the main performance. You could always tell because Naruto howled as well as growled.

“At least that means Sasuke won’t make another appearance,” Shikamaru heard himself saying, “’cos they’ll be fixed together by Naruto’s knot until morning.”

Shino made a noise that could best be described as a strangled grunt.

“Forget I said that,” Shikamaru suggested. “69? But you have to take your lenses out.”

Shino finally found some words. “69. But you have to let your hair down and wear lipstick.”

Shikamaru usually drew a line at the lipstick, but it had been a tough evening. “I choose the colour and, I am telling you now, it will not be red.”

Shino looked hopeful, “Pink?”

“Maybe we should try decanting Haku,” Rin suggested to Iruka the next morning.

Iruka frowned, “We have discussed this. We decided to be cautious and give him an extra ten days in the tank. It is a long haul to the next drop and if he doesn’t fit in fifteen days is a long time. It makes more sense to decant him three days before drop.”

“Ten days is a very long time,” argued Rin. “I think they will include a number of days like yesterday. In the end, someone will fuck with someone they shouldn’t and we will live with the fallout for standards or end up losing someone. You didn’t see them looking at Sasuke yesterday.”

“I saw Sasuke going back to his bunk. I can imagine,” Iruka admitted. “Also, it is many standards since men have looked at me the way those three did last night. It was as disturbing as it was complimentary.”

Rin grinned, “You looked great, Iruka. Even I fancied a taste.”

Iruka tried to scowl. “Don’t start, Rin.”

Haku looked at the woman with the medico tattoos and the plain spacer with a scar across the bridge of his nose. He was very grateful, and more than a little surprised, to be alive. He had known that he was in deep, deep trouble as soon as Kisame-san let the amazing blond win. He had hoped that Za-chan had taken the opportunity to kill Itachi-san while Kisame-san was not there to stop him, therefore doing the entire world a favour.

“Good day, Haku-kun,” the plain spacer began. “I am Iruka and I am queen on the Silver Leaf.”

That was a surprise, queens were usually more visually arresting. Few were beautiful but most presented themselves so noone could overlook them. This spacer, Iruka, must be very confident of his status to risk looking so ordinary. “Good day, Iruka-san,” Haku replied.

“This is Rin, she is our medico and it is she who managed to keep you alive and help you mend.”

“Good day, Rin-san. I thank you.”

“Good day, Haku-kun. You are welcome. If you have any pain or problems, you must tell me.”

Haku’s fingers went to his neck. He could feel a slight ridge and briefly wished for a mirror.

“Have you catted on any ships other than the Morning Mist?” the queen asked.

“I was not the cat,” Haku answered. “I was with Zabuza-san. I am always with Zabuza-san. We have been on four different ships together.”

That worried the queen and the medico.

“You were offered to us as reparation, as if you were a cat,” the queen reminded him.

Haku wanted to ask if Za-chan had asked for him back, but was too frightened of the possible answers. “I wish to be with Zabuza-san,” he stated. “I belong with Zabuza-san.”

The queen took a deep breath. “Haku-kun, you needed to be with us. Other ships do not have a medico as skilled a Rin-san, or an infirmary as well equipped as this. You were very badly injured.”

That was interesting. The man cared. He was acting as if he understood. “Zabuza-san will be there when this ship returns to its registered homeport,” Haku told them with confidence. “That is our arrangement if we are separated. The registered homeport of this ship is Tarrasade. Zabuza-san will be on Tarrasade. Until we reach Tarrasade, I will behave as your cat, if that is what you wish. I behaved as a cat on the Morning Mist and the other ships. I have an appropriate repertoire of catting skills. However, I was not the cat. I was with Zabuza-san.” Haku was struck by a terrible thought. If Za-chan had to challenge for him he would not be able to defeat the amazing blond or the man Itachi-san called the skinny scarecrow. “I will be acting as your cat. I will not be your cat. I will be free to go with Zabuza-san when we dock at Tarrasade.”

“He’s a cocky little thing,” the medico murmured.

“I will put your proposal to our Captain,” he queen informed him. “That proposal is that you will be our acting cat until we dock at Tarrasade. In the meantime, how would you like some food and perhaps to meet some other members of the crew?”

“No, Iruka-san, I would like access to a head and a shower and your closet.” Haku considered. “Please,” he added.

The queen had assigned the cat-who-was-not-a-cat to accompany him. Haku was slightly interested that they were both cats-who-were-not-cats, but more concerned that this was the brother of Itachi-san. He was beautiful. It was the type of beauty that did not need cosmetics or artful clothing. Haku was more than a little jealous. He decided to play for an advantage, in case he should need it.

“Itachi-san used to make me dress up as you,” Haku told him. “He bought me contacts to make my eyes the right colour. I would dye my hair darker and make it glossy. I would wear mascara and change the shape of my lips.”

It worked. All the colour drained from Itachi-san’s brother’s face. It was perhaps a little too successful, as he walked away. There again, that left Haku free to investigate the potential of the closet in more depth. He was not alone long. This time it was slim spacer of medium height, with all of his very dark hair tied up and intense brown eyes that pretended disinterest. This one was unattached and therefore it was important that Haku work out how to please him.

He turned out to be very easy to please, responding so enthusiastically to Haku’s hints that Haku took pity on him, sat him on the chair and rode his cock. Haku congratulated himself on his decision to visit the head before the closet so that he was thoroughly and expertly prepared. The young spacer was a thoughtful partner, taking responsibility for supporting Haku’s weight without interfering with his movement. That freed Haku’s hands to play across the spacer’s body. He had taken down the young spacer’s hair and was investigating his preferences for mouth-to-mouth contact when Iruka’s voice sliced across them.

“Shikamaru! We do not fuck in the closet. Haku-kun is not even confirmed as acting cat. I want to see both of you in the galley. Now!” He stomped away, calling for Itachi-san’s brother.

The young spacer’s cock had softened, so Haku whispered one of his most effective phrases into his ear and was rewarded by a steely response. Three more choice phrases, a flurry of movement and the young spacer went over the edge. Haku waited until he recovered from his orgasm and then fluttered his eyelashes.

“I apologise for getting you into trouble, Shikamaru-san,” he whispered.

“It was worth it, Haku-kun,” the young spacer assured him and hugged him.

It was nice.

When he arrived at the galley Iruka-san, Haku found that he no longer thought of him as ‘the queen’, was still reprimanding Itachi-san’s brother for leaving him and Shikamaru-san for unauthorised fucking. This was despite the time Haku had spent in the head and dressing, so Haku suspected Iruka-san was an expert at making young spacers squirm. This pleased him. Spacing could be so very boring, but this was developing into a potentially interesting situation. Also, if Shikamaru-san was to judge by, they were very clean. Haku liked clean.

His appearance caused Iruka-san to lose the thread of what he was saying. This was satisfying. Haku knew he was talented at making himself look attractive and the resources in the closet, while obviously under-utilised by the current crew, were far greater than that which he usually worked. Iruka-san rallied.

“Now does not mean fifteen minutes, Haku-kun. Now means within five minutes, preferably within two minutes,” he told him. “However, you look very nice. It is good to see someone making an effort.”

Nice was not the effect Haku had intended. He checked Shikamaru-san’s expression and decided that, yes, he had judged it correctly. He would have to investigate the parameters of Iruka-san’s ‘nice’.

The afternoon of the next day, after being confirmed as acting cat, Haku sat perched on one of the stools in Shikamaru-san’s lab.

“You are sure Iruka-sensei does not know you are here?” Shikamaru-san asked him.

“Yes, he thinks I am still working in the closet but I finished everything this morning. Iruka-san is with the Captain. Itachi-san’s brother may not like me but he will not tell Iruka-san that I was not in the closet.”

“It would be better if you called him Sasuke, Haku-kun. Itachi is not Sasuke-san’s favourite person. Itachi murdered their whole family, including Sasuke’s mother.”

Haku was not surprised. “I will think about not referring to him as Itachi-san’s brother.”

“Thank you. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“The crew and the Captain. You were cat here. You have been crew here since. You can save me time and prevent me making errors.”

Shikamaru-san nodded, “Go for it, Haku-kun.”

Haku produced a small notebook and a pencil. “Ibiki-san?”

“Lonely. He’ll want you to ride on his prick and suck him. He’ll be too scared of hurting you to take control. Don’t talk too much. I made that mistake.”

“Shino-san?”

“Lipstick. Red lipstick, not that I can imagine you wearing anything so slutty. Likes blowjobs. More generous than you would expect. Don’t know much more.”

It was more that Haku had expected, given the short time Shino-san had been in the crew. “Jiraiya-san?”

“Major pervert. Voyeur. Blowjobs only from cats. Will critique your technique. Is in a off-ship fucking relationship with the Captain that noone ever mentions.”

Haku had suspected there was something between them. “Kakashi-san?”

“Don’t touch, Haku-kun. Seriously. Don’t even flirt. You don’t want Iruka as an enemy.”

Haku nodded. “Iruka-san?”

“You’ll get a lecture about inappropriate relationships. Probably a long one. Iruka only wants Kakashi.”

“Rin-san?”

“No idea. She’s sweet on Kakashi, she knew him ages ago, but he was with the great love of his life then.”

“Not Iruka-san?” Haku checked.

“No, Obito, Sasuke and Itachi’s cousin. Don’t mention him. He’s dead and Kakashi blames himself. Back to Rin. I had a thing about her and offered, but she never took me up on it. No idea what she does to compensate for not fucking. You got any experience with women?”

“No,” Haku admitted.

“I went down on the Captain for three standards. I’ll give you some pointers if you need them. The Captain may not ask. She asks Sasuke for massage but no more, he’s really good at it.”

Haku made a note about the Captain. “Naruto-san?”

“He won’t notice. It’s the way he is built. Once he started fucking Sasuke he stopped noticing anyone else that way. Don’t make the mistake of seeing it as a challenge. He really, really, really isn’t interested.” Shikamaru waited. “Aren’t you going to ask about Sasuke?”

“No,” Haku told him, “I have no intention of touching Itach… …him.”