*Wyl*

When Wyl got back from the station, he was floating. He couldn't help it. If he had dreamed up the most spectacularly lucky, pleasurable scenario he could think of before going up to the station, it would have paled in comparison to the reality he experienced. Mind-blowing sex with the hottest person he'd ever met, a person who was in a position to get him back up to the station, a person who for some reason seemed to want him even though he wasn't much to look at...certainly not by comparison.

Robbie Sinclair. Robin. Wyl grinned when he remembered Robbie's reaction to Wyl figuring out his name. He got so cute when he was a little flustered.

Wyl wanted to find out more about what flustered him. He wanted to ask him about Old Earth and living on Mars, and how long it had taken him to get to this system. He wanted to know about what'd he'd done before coming to the station, what his favorite food was, whether he had brothers or sisters and more about what turned him on. Especially that. He wanted to make Robbie lose his mind with pleasure, and love Wyl so much that he never needed to know about his past.

Wyl frowned. That last thought bothered him, for several reasons. The first was because he knew it was stupid of him to want Robbie to talk about himself and not expect Wyl to reciprocate. The second was because he had used the word "love." It was way too soon to be using that word. It had never been a word he was comfortable with anyway, not since his parents had died, so how could he even consider it with a man he had just met? It didn't matter that he was handsome and caring and a great lover who could also cook.

Right? Right.

Wyl, you're an idiot. You never stop to think things through, you just go full speed and assume everything will work out. Look where it's gotten you. And now it's too late to go back.

Wyl's attention was pleasantly distracted by Taylor's arrival. "I'll help you unload."

"Thanks." Vic had purchased a number of things at the station at Danica's behest, but immediately after arriving he had abandoned ship, leaving Wyl to get everything out.

"So," Taylor said casually as they hauled a pile of coiled tubing out of the hold, "did Danica meet you when you got back?"

"Yeah."

"And how did that go?"

"Could have been worse," Wyl said with a shrug. They dropped the tubing onto a pallet and went back inside for more. "She was livid for a few seconds about not getting the license renewed, but when I explained what a deferral was to her, she calmed down a little. A tiny bit. Fixing up the exterior of the Wreck is going to be my project for the next week, and then we go back up to finish the inspection."

"Hell, I'm surprised you got that far, what with the state this was in." Taylor was a much larger man than Wyl and despite the fact that he was the cook and not a laborer, he easily lifted twice what Wyl could, balancing it on his shoulder as he carried it back to the cart. "A deferral. So you get to go back."

"Yeah." Wyl tried to keep the excitement out of his voice when he said it, but Taylor Paulsen was one of his only real friends on this rock, along with his wife Leesie, and he knew Wyl well enough to know when something moved him out of the state of apathy he usually resided in.

"Had a good time, then?" Taylor asked with a grin.

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"Is it that obvious?"

"Probably not. We wouldn't want her highness to see you smiling, though, she'd take it as a personal affront."

"Yeah..." Danica worried Wyl. She worried him a lot. She had never been a very stable person, and this last standard month her behavior had gotten more and more extreme, especially where he was concerned. For some reason she was obsessed with the idea of him sleeping with her, and if she knew he had been up at the station enjoying himself with someone else, especially if she found out it was a man...her reaction could be explosive. Literally. "I tried to tone it down when she came by."

"At least you got through the meeting with your eardrums intact," Taylor grunted as he lifted another crate. "She's been hissing and spitting like a catterpet in heat lately. I'd as soon fly a ship into a black hole as get close enough to touch her." He glanced sidelong at Wyl. "She spent quite a bit of time ranting about you. 'What's taking so long, why aren't they back, what's Wyl doing...'."

"Fuck, T." Wyl groaned. "How am I going to survive another year of her?"

"You'll think of something." Taylor shrugged. "Or you'll have a heart attack."

"You're really encouraging, thanks, T."

"It's what I do."

Fortunately Wyl avoided Danica for the rest of the day. Her instructions to him had been explicit—"Finish the fucking ship!"—so he spent his time in the docking bay, scavenging parts for the hull and planning where to put the patches. He focused, mentally imagining how to place the shield plates, which ones to move and lock in new places and which ones would need to be scrapped and replaced. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the other person standing in the bay until a light, feminine hand touched his shoulder.

Wyl started violently and whirled around, whipping his welding faceplate off. It wasn't Danica though, it was Leesie, holding a plate of food and a glass of vitamin-enhanced water. Wispy blonde curls trailed about her face as she smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I called out, but you were too involved to hear me, I guess."

"It's okay." Wyl's heart was gradually coming down from its frenetic high.

"Taylor made you some dinner. You didn't come to the mess hall this afternoon."

Wyl took the plate from her hands. "Yeah, I know. I have a lot of work to do on the Wreck before we go back up." He sat down on a crate and dug into the sandwich Taylor had made. Leesie sat down next to him, folding her hands across her lap, a faint smile on her face. She waited until he was done to start talking.

"So, is he nice?"

Wyl almost choked on the last bite of his sandwich. He took a long drink of the water, then asked, "Did T tell you?"

"He mentioned you had gotten together with someone, but honestly I didn't need him to tell me that. I saw you when you got back. You were smiling, Wyl. I've never seen you smile like that before. It disappeared as soon as you saw Danica, but it was definitely there." She nudged his hip. "You don't have to talk about it, hon."

"I want to." It was true, too. "He's better than nice. He's...perfect."

"Gosh. Tell me more about Mr. Perfect."

"He's a marshal at the station. I think he's some sort of commander, but I'm not sure...he was there to meet us when we pulled the Wreck in."

Leesie nodded encouragingly. "What's his name?"

"Robbie. Robbie Sinclair."

"Robbie Sinclair." Leesie repeated it, as though committing his name to memory. "And he was good to you?"

Wyl couldn't suppress a smirk. "You don't know how good."

"Pig." Leesie grinned. "I'm glad you met someone who could make you happy, at least for a while.”

"I'm going to see him again, when we take the Wreck back up." Wyl was nearly vibrating with excitement. "You'd like him, Leesie, he's friendly, he's handsome, he's abso-fucking-lutely incredible in bed…he’s amazing."

“It sounds like you guys really hit it off."

"I guess so. I don't know why, he's a full-class citizen and I'm a bonder, he's incredibly attractive and I'm not, he's—"

Leesie held up her hand. "Wyl, you have some really weird misconceptions about yourself. You might be a bonder, but you're expressive, independent, intelligent, and very handsome." She smiled a little sadly. "That's part of your problem, remember?"

"Danica. Shit." Wyl rubbed his hands over his face. "If she knew she'd crucify me. Not that I've given her any reason to think I want her."

"Of course not. That's one of the reasons she's after you so hard. Be careful this week, Wyl. Don't give her any cause to be suspicious. Don't let her ruin this chance for you."

"What chance?"

"Your chance for happiness." Leesie picked up the empty plate and glass. "Don't stay up too late, and don't forget to go to breakfast."

"Yes, Mom." Wyl watched her leave, feeling better than he had since he'd gotten back.