*Wyl*

"Rise and shine, darling," a sultry voice purred over the speaker. It was set into the wall right next to Wyl Leyton's pillow, and he groaned as the noise blasted him out of a sound sleep.

"Get thee behind me, Satan," he growled and rolled over, pushing his face into the pillow.

"Religion. How quaint." The voice was quietly amused. "I hope you're not in an insolent mood this morning, Wyl. You know what a chore it is for me to come up with appropriate punishments when you're being insolent."

"Not insolent, just honest," Wyl mumbled from his pillow. There was a long pause from the speaker.

"Are you insulting me?" The voice held none of its earlier amusement now.

"Why would I insult you?" Wyl replied. "You'd just withhold payment on my bond again."

"True." Confidence came back to the voice. "And that's the last thing you want, isn't it dearest? Especially since you're still paying for your last little bout of arrogance. Hmmm...is today the final cold shower?"

"Yes." Wyl sighed and rolled out of bed, wincing as his bare feet hit the icy flooring. "And the last day without socks, either."

"You lucky thing, you. If I were you I'd be especially nice to me. You wouldn't want to jeopardize the chance to return to normal living, now would you?"

"Oh no." No, I wouldn't want to jeopardize this fucking hellhole of an existence, Wyl thought angrily as he pulled on his graying cargo pants. He stuck his feet into the boots by the bed and grabbed his frayed shirt, then left his tiny room and headed for the communal shower.

Only one other person got woken up this early, and that was Taylor Paulsen, the bonder who worked as a cook for the rest of the crew. He was already under the warm water, lathered with soap. He saw Wyl enter and cast a sympathetic look his way. "Last day, man."

"Yeah." Wyl sighed. He shook off his boots and pants, placed all his clothes on a nearby bench and stepped up to a nozzle. The scanner attached to the end of the shower identified him and immediately began spraying icy cold water on his chest. Wyl gasped and shuddered for a moment, then grabbed the soap and began scrubbing as fast as he could. "Shit, that's cold."

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"It's been three weeks, I think you'd be used to it by now," Taylor observed as he rinsed soap off. "Then again, a skinny thing like you, you don't have any padding to blunt the shock."

"Not like you, you mean." Taylor was an excellent cook, and he had the body of someone who worked out regularly but also loved food. Wyl, on the other hand, ate until he was stuffed but never seemed to gain an ounce. His body was whipcord lean and muscled, and his face was thin to the point of gauntness. He had large brown eyes, constantly ringed these days with dark circles, and his black hair hadn't been cut for months. It fell raggedly around his shoulders, the ends split from continual freezing and thawing on this icy world. He was attractive, or would have been if he didn't look so miserable.

Wyl finished his shower as fast as he could and stepped back from the tiles. Fast currents of air assailed him from all directions, air that unfortunately was also cold. After a few more miserable moments of shivering, he was dry. Numb, but dry. He walked gingerly over to where he had set his clothes and sat down. Taylor, sitting a few benches down, cast a concerned eye at the young man.

"Seriously, Wyl, you should just give her what she wants," he advised. "You know she'd ease up on you if she did."

"Can I help it if I don't like ice cold bitch first thing in the morning?" Wyl growled.

"Well you'd better learn to like it. Or at least fake that you do. Otherwise she'll make your life a living hell until your bond is paid off."

"The last thing I'm going to give that fucking wench is satisfaction." Wyl shook his head. "Not if I can help it. And certainly not in bed."

"Why not? It isn't as though she's hard to look at." Taylor glanced at him more closely. "Or do you prefer boys?"

"Men, T. I prefer men."

"Damn. And she knows it." Taylor couldn't seem to help it; he burst out laughing. Wyl glared at him.

"What the fuck is so funny?"

"Thank the stars I was married before I got shipped to this wasteland. You're the biggest challenge to come along for our Little Miss Wonderbitch in years." His laughter slowly died. "She's never going to give up, Wyl, not until she catches you or breaks you. That's the way she is."

"I'll have my bond paid off in a year. I can wait that long."

"A year of freezing showers, bad clothes and worse weather. It would be easier just to fuck her."

"Yeah, well..." Wyl let his voice trail off. It wasn't that he had something against women in general. He had been with women before, and even though he liked men better, there was something appealing about the smooth lines and softness of a woman's curves pressed against him. But there was nothing appealing about the woman who held his bond.