The Lunar Life Ch. 04

Will stood by the side of the road, a duffel bag slung across his right shoulder as he waited for the hovercar that was to take him back to Helios Grove. He looked down at the bag to his right, wondering if he had brought enough of his personal belongings.

After the conversation he had with his parents the previous night, Will had contacted Varek to inform the elite of his decision. The older man was more than a little excited at the news, his enthusiasm conveyed through the BIC.

"And what about your accommodations? Staying with us, or your parents'?" Varek asked.

"I think it will be a good opportunity to stay in the city centre. I really hope I'm not imposing Varek, because if I am I can always find another place." Will said. He liked the idea of living in Helios Grove but couldn't help but feel that he was imposing, even if Varek was the one who invited him.

"Nonsense. We have the room and it's no bother at all."

"Thanks Varek. Is there anything I need to bring besides a change of clothes?"

"You don't even need those actually. If you're going to be an elite, you're going to dress like one. You can still bring some clothes if you prefer to slip into something more comfortable now and then, but other than that you'll have a brand new wardrobe."

Following Varek's advice, Will packed a few sets of his clothes, leaving the rest in his old room. That morning his mom had bid him a teary goodbye and Will had to remind her that he would be visiting often. She smiled but still continued to shed her tears. Will just laughed and shook his head, thinking that maybe this was just what mothers did.

So here he was, waiting by the side of the road. As he waited, he observed the street that he lived on for the past twenty-one years. Mostly a residential area, the place featured row after row of houses. The roads that ran along the streets were mostly empty of vehicles, unlike the city centre where you saw a hovercar every few feet. So when a shiny black hovercar came floating down the street towards Will, he knew immediately that it was his ride.

As the vehicle coasted to a smooth stop in front of Will, the door opened. Expecting everything to be the same as the previous day, Will didn't have a second thought before stepping into the car. This time however, the vehicle wasn't as empty as he had expected.

"What are you doing here?" Will asked, pausing halfway into the vehicle.

"Just get in. I'll explain later." Thane replied, not giving any further information. Will raised an eyebrow at him, trying to figure out the guy's motives. Still, confused as he might have been, Will stepped in, taking a seat beside Thane. The door closed behind him and the vehicle was off. "Nice to see you." Thane smiled.

"That makes one of us. I think I'm more confused than anything else." Thane simply laughed, taking a tablet out from the door compartment. He turned it on and tapped away onto the screen.

"We're just gonna have a slight detour before we head back to Helios." Thane mumbled, more to himself than anyone, as he tapped the screen. With a final keystroke, the driver bot spoke up.

"Route updated." It droned before quickly taking a left turn. Even though he had only traveled to Helios Grove once before, Will knew that the route they were supposed to take carried on straight ahead instead of taking a left turn.

"You hacked the robot?" Will asked.

"Hack is such a strong word. I like to think of it as re-programming." Thane's mischievous tone did nothing to ease Will's confusion.

"Something tells me that this isn't something your father would approve of."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Will rolled his eyes, knowing that he had no choice but to just go with it. Wherever or whatever Thane had in mind, Will had no way to change it even if he wanted to.

"Where are we going anyway? I hope you're not bringing me somewhere so you can kill me." Will said, raising an eyebrow at the man next to him.

"Now why would I kill you? Look at that cute face." Thane cooed like he was speaking to a little kid.

"Wow you can be infuriating sometimes. You know you're kinda childish?"

"So I've heard."

"Really?" Will asked. From what Will could tell, Thane's interactions with everyone else he had seen was very professional, so different from the Thane that spoke to him. Hearing that someone else had said he was childish seemed unlikely what with the way he carried himself around others.

"Nope. Just you." Thane smirked making Will roll his eyes once again.

"I rest my case. So, are you going to tell me where we're going?" Will asked, turning to face Thane.

"You'll know when we get there. I'm certain you'll like it too so don't worry." At those words, Will knew exactly where they were headed.

"The forest? Why are we going there?" Will asked, making Thane whip his head to Will in surprise. "Don't look so surprised. Could you have been any more obvious?"

"You're one of those 'nothing gets by you' kind of person aren't you. Damn, takes the joy out of any kind of surprise."

"I have more than enough surprises in my life right now. Besides, you are in no obligation to surprise me with anything, or need I remind you that we aren't exactly friends yet? I've known you for three days, and I'm not exaggerating." Will stated. Seriously though, he could count the number of times he had met Thane on one hand.

"Ouch Harrison." Thane played, holding a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "I thought we shared something a little more special than that. You seemed to think so when you were sucking on my face."

"Shut up. Don't mention that, ever. It wasn't supposed to happen and you and I both know that."

"Fine, sorry. Just teasing." Thane said, turning to look out the window. Will shook his head, turning to face out the window as well, letting the silence between them take over. He didn't need it, being constantly reminded of his attraction to Thane. What Will wanted was to forget all about it, knowing that no good would come of it.

The sight of the green trees looming in the foreground was a sight for sore eyes for Will. What with everything that was suddenly being thrust upon him, he would have liked nothing more than an hour at the forest to relax and clear his head. The car turned down a road that Will never took whenever he visited by foot, the route leading towards the back of the dome, away from the main entrance that he frequented. As the car pulled into the complex from an entrance that Will never even knew existed, he found himself in a parking lot of sorts, coming to a conclusion that it was probably for visiting elites.

As the vehicle came to a stop, the doors popped open. Without a single word, Thane stepped out of the vehicle. Will followed behind, exiting the car only to notice that Thane was already walking away towards what looked liked the elevator. Frowning slightly, Will ran to catch up with the other man, slowing to match his pace once at his side.

"Did I say something wrong?" Will asked, knowing that Thane's silence and somewhat cold attitude had something to do with what he had said in the car.

"Nothing that I don't already know." Thane replied, not even giving Will a sideways glance.

"Then what's with you?" Will said as he stepped into the elevator with Thane.

"Nothing." He sighed, punching the button, causing the door to close. Will shook his head as the elevator ascended. If Thane wanted to be that way, he wasn't going to bother, so he decided to just keep quiet. The door opened and the smell of nature wafted into the elevator. Will closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air. It had been nothing more than a few days since he last visited the forest, but already he missed the placed.

Cracking his eyes open, he noticed that Thane was off down the trail, heading towards the hill that the two had met previously. With hands in his pocket, Thane strode calmly through the slight undergrowth, listening to the crunching of leaves under his feet. Behind him, he heard Will trudging through the trail behind him, a few yards back.

Somehow the detour wasn't turning out as Thane had expected. It was supposed to be a simple picnic of sorts, something like the time they first met, except with a little food and drinks. Of course, after the conversation in the car, Thane figured that the plan was no longer a wise thing, hence leaving everything he brought along in the car. He knew he was being stupid, but he didn't know why he was giving in to it.

As Thane reached the spot on the hill where he had met Will, he looked out at the forest. After a moment, he sat down, circling his hands around his bent knees, locking them together. Will came and sat down beside him but not didn't say anything.

The two remained in silence for a good fifteen minutes, simply enjoying the peace of the forest. Of course, the silence had to be broken sometime and Will couldn't take it any longer. "So, care to explain why we are here?" He asked.

"I thought this was what you liked to do. Just come here to clear the mind." Thane replied, still not looking at Will.

"Yes I do, but I'm sure that wasn't the reason you brought us here."

"Forget it, it was a stupid idea anyway. Just pretend that I came here to clear my mind too."

"You know me, I don't get satisfied with vague answers like that." Will said, hoping that Thane would open up enough about his original intentions.

"Trust me, you won't like the real answer." Thane said.

"Try me." Thane looked over at Will, staring into those mesmerizing green eyes. Sighing, he knew that he had no restraint when it came to Will.

"I brought you here for a picnic to try and get to know you better. In my brain, I didn't see it as a date or anything, or at least that was what I kept telling myself. After the whole thing in the car just now, I realized I should have known better." Thane was right about Will not liking the answer. Sure he may have suspected it but still, he wished that Thane didn't make it so difficult for him. "Your frown tells me what I already knew. I told you, you wouldn't like the truth."

"Why are you doing this Thane? You and I both know..." Will started but was cut off.

"Yes I know okay!" Thane shouted, his voice suddenly a lot louder. "You think I don't know that we shouldn't take this further? I know that Will, I don't need you reminding me every time. I get reminded of that everyday I'm on Lunaris as it is. Do you think I like being gay? Do you think I like being attracted to you? For your information, I don't."

Not feeling at all pleased at being reprimanded for stating the truth, Will felt his own anger starting to boil. "Well excuse me, but you're not the only one with problems here. In case you didn't know, you're not the only gay person here. At least I'm trying to keep my attraction in check, unlike you. Yes I keep reminding you that we shouldn't, because it helps me remember that I shouldn't. Don't go and make me the bad guy here."

"Oh yes, I'm the promiscuous gay who can't keep his hands to himself. Maybe it's because I'm tired of thinking I'm worth less just because I'm gay. Maybe I'm sick of the fact that I feel so inadequate all the time, just because of that little facet of me. Maybe I've had it with hiding all the time." Thane said, heaving as he panted. "Yes, I regret kissing you. I regret kissing you because now I feel this gravitation towards you. I feel this need to be around you and the need to make you feel the same. I absolutely hate it, because I know that it will never be, and with you reminding me all the time, of what I know can never happen, I think I'm justified in getting a little pissed."

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that then, no one made you kiss me you know."

"Yeah I guess I was a fucking idiot, apparently too stupid to realize what a bad idea that was. Goddamn it, I wish I never even met you here." Thane exclaimed.

"That makes two of us. You know what, forget it. Let's just get out of here." Will said, standing up and storming towards the elevator. As Will marched off in anger, he knew Thane wasn't following behind him but he didn't care. He would wait in the car if he needed to, anything to get away from the elite. He was fuming and a little time away from the source of his anger was just what he needed.

"Argh fuck!!!" He heard Thane shout in the distance, his exasperated voice echoing through the quiet forest. Ignoring it, Will entered the elevator and headed back down to the hovercar. The way down, he tried to bring his anger levels down, trying his hardest to forget about Thane and his infuriating antics. However, try as he might, he was still fuming when he arrived at the hovercar.

The door slid open and he entered, closing his eyes and leaning back against the seat, trying to calm down. "Where is Mr. Hopper?" The driver spoke up.

"Should be on his way." Will replied, not saying anything further. Sure enough it was five minutes later when he heard the door open to his right. With his eyes closed, he couldn't see but he knew that Thane had entered the car. The sound of the door sliding close and the vehicle was off. He didn't want to speak to Thane; didn't want to even look at him, so he kept his eyes closed the journey back to Helios.

As the car pulled into Helios Grove, Will opened his eyes. His door slid open and he stepped out, dragging his duffel bag with him. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Thane didn't move an inch, staring out his window not looking like he was exiting at all. Will would have asked if he was coming, but was in no mood to. Thane however, answered his unspoken question. "I've got some work to attend to. Steve will help you get settled in." Thane said, not even looking in Will's direction. With that, the door closed and the vehicle was driving away.

Sighing, Will turned and headed into Helios Grove. Not a few seconds after entering did Steve come to greet Will. "Good morning sir. Good to see you again."

"Thanks Steve. Is Varek around?"

"I regret to inform you that Mr. Hopper has been called in on some urgent work matter. He did however, instruct me to settle you into your new room. He gave me explicit instructions to prepare the room beside Master Thane's so you two could get to know each other better."

"Great." Will dragged, not concealing his sarcasm at all.

"You don't sound too happy by that? Is there something wrong between you and Master Thane?"

"It's a long story."

"I see. Well whatever the case, I shall see you to your room now."

After being shown to his new room, the rest of the afternoon was spent with Steve, who was instructed to takes measurements for Will's new wardrobe. What Will thought was going to take a couple of minutes, turned into a couple of hours, as the droid took measurements of almost every nook and cranny of Will's body. If it had been a human at the other end of the measuring tape, Will might have felt violated.

The rest of the day was spent getting Will settled into his new living quarters. Strangely to Will, the day seemed to pass in a blur. Before he knew it, it was already pretty late, although it was still pretty bright outside. It's what you had to live with on Lunaris, when moon days are almost a month long. If you didn't pay attention to the time, you could easily burn yourself out. Will went down for dinner at which time, he saw Thane arrive back from whatever business he needed to attend to.

Having the whole day to cool off, neither Thane nor Will felt anger towards each other anymore, instead being replaced by an awkward tension. Avoiding eye contact, both men walked past each other, not acknowledging the other's presence. Will was glad that they would at least not have to eat dinner together, with Thane disappearing upstairs to, Will assumed, return to his room. Will proceeded into the kitchen where Steve was staring at him.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." The robot said, going back to preparing a plate for Will, making the young male raise a questioning eyebrow. Will took a seat at the kitchen island, eyeing the robot closely. Steve didn't have facial expressions, so he did have the advantage of the best poker face you would ever see, but you could still tell that something was bugging him. Eventually, Steve looked up and saw Will's intent gaze upon him. "So, you and Master Thane doing okay?"

"You saw us in the hallway just now, didn't you." Will deadpanned, continuing his stare on the android.

"Okay fine, you caught me." Steve said, putting a plate of food in front of Will. Will looked down momentarily and saw the succulent filet of steak that sat on his plate, looking impossibly delicious, but even with a distraction like that in front of him, he needed some answers first.

"Okay, so what about it?" Will said, bringing his gaze back up to Steve.

"What happened between you two? This afternoon I sensed a lot of anger and just now it was so awkward I could not even compute."

"Let's just say we both struck a nerve in each other, how about that. It led to some shouting and, I don't know, it just morphed into awkwardness." Will said, picking up his fork and pushing around the peas that were on his plate.

"I see. Maybe you should go talk to him then." Steve said. Will looked up and raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. "It was just a suggestion."

"You know, for a robot who doesn't have a nose, you sure can be nosey." Will joked.

"If I had feelings they would be hurt right now. Thankfully I don't. You can blame the nosiness on Varek. Word of advise, if you ever need a droid programmed, don't go to Varek." Steve said. Will could almost imagine the smirk that would have graced the robots features.

Once done with the meal, which Will could honestly say was the best meal he had ever had, he headed back up to his room and collapsed on his couch. Will's room looked almost identical to Thane's, the only exception being the lack of Thane's retro recreational corner. As he sat there, he thought about Steve's suggestion to go talk to Thane. He didn't want to apologize because he didn't have anything to apologize for, but he did feel for Thane. Whatever Thane had said had some truth to it and he understood, but he just didn't fully agree with it.

Sure he had enjoyed the kiss, and yes he had felt the pull of Thane ever since, but he knew that leading themselves on, to think that it could amount to anything further, was just deluding themselves. Still he did feel kind of bad for snapping at Thane. Sighing, he pushed himself off his couch, making his way to his door, sticking his hands in his pockets. He made the short distance to Thane's room, every second of the way contemplating if he should turn back. Eventually his courageous side won when he found himself knocking on Thane's door.

"Yeah?" Thane replied, his voice muffled through the door.

"It's me. Can I talk to you?" Will said, nervously shuffling his feet.

"Um...yeah sure." Will took that as cue as he opened the door. He looked in, finding Thane lying across his couch, a book nestled in his lap. "I was just doing some light reading." Thane said, sitting up and putting the book down on the coffee table. Thane motioned for the empty space next to him, wordlessly asking Will to have a seat. The smaller man followed the request, sitting on the couch but leaving as much distance between the two of them as possible. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I came to apologize, about earlier today. I had no right to snap at you and I'm sorry."

"Yeah I'm sorry too. I just...I don't know." Thane said, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Did you mean it though?"

"What?"

"That you regret kissing me." Will asked, unsure why he wanted to know, let alone care about the answer.

"No, I just said it in anger." Thane said, leaning back and throwing his head over the back of the couch.