Love Like Oil, Act Two

Koorka Station greeted Jack and Lix with in the same spirit as when they had left; with bodies, the stale smog of a dozen different species crowded together in too small a space, and the promise of riches for those who had the guile and grit to take it by any means necessary. Swaths of vessels milled about the station like bees to a hive, coming and going on tightly controlled flight paths that even the rough and tumble crowd of Koorka respected. No one, not even the bloodthirsty gangsters, wanted to find themselves in a collision that could have been easily avoided if they had simply heeded the station AI, there would be time for chest beating when they weren't floating through a vacuum.

"Gerthtrude to Koorka Station, requesting docking permission for berthing at docking station twenty-seven, how copy?" Jack all but lounged in the captain's chair, contemplating if he could pilot his fat vessel with his feet if he really focused, as Lix sat side saddle on the armrest. Her tail had found a new home comfortably around his neck, his warm mammalian blood heating her from within.

"Koorka Station to Gerthtrude, proceed along designated AI flight path on autopilot, clearance granted." Came the haggard voice of flight control. The simplicity brought a grin to Jack's face as he flipped switches, feeling the rudimentary systems take control, allowing him to lean back and relax. Lix squawked as she was bodily pulled into his lap, happily curling into a comfortable ball of scales to watch the slow traffic of ships drift about beyond the safety of the cockpit view.

"So, starship mechanic," The Kux'lar began with a content hiss. "How are you gonna fix my ship?"

"Eh, I thought we'd just scrap it and start new from a taxi or something." His reward was a nip. "Gah, not so many teeth, scaly lady!" He chuckled, forcing her head beneath this chin where her fangs were away from his flesh. "I can fix the drive an' manifolds up right in my shop. The problem will be armin' her. Guns are expensive on Koorka… actually hardship weaponry is expensive everywhere."

"Gnah… I'm a good pilot but… never shot a gun before…" Lix nestled into the man's chest as if to hide.

"Really? Like… ship to ship fire, right?"

"N-No… any gun." She had expected laughter, maybe even ribbing or teasing. What the 'Roid Racer hadn't expected was for the man to squeeze her so tight she squeaked.

"That's amazing, to have never popped off a single round in this day an' age." Jack accentuated his amazement with another hardy squeeze as Lix flailed, her tail wrapping around the man's arm in a futile attempt to gain some semblance of control.

"Jack, too tight! Gnah!" Several merciful breaths later, Lix found herself snuggling back into the mammal's warmth, her eyes crawling back up to the ships drifting about in orderly lines to who knew where. Each one had a story, she realized with a twitch to her killing claws. Each one was on their own adventure just like hers. How she wanted to sit them all down and hear their stories… to see the insides of their ships, their homes…

"Well… there's several less than reputable markets on Koorka's lower levels I can peruse for parts, I've done it before." Jack started slowly, pulling the raptor closer as he thought. "Quality ain't always there though. Never know what ya gonna get from those con artists down there. Hmmmm…" Lix simply ignored the man, leaning into his warmth. Jack hadn't failed her yet, and she was sure he could come through yet again. How he would do that, she had no idea in her little lizard brain, but the confidence was there.

Docking bay twenty-seven loomed ahead like a gaping, hungry beast, eager to devour the Gerthtrude whole with a gullet of steel. Lix trilled as Jack picked her up the moment the cabin darkened with the passage of the entryway, carrying her to the tight little lift that took them slowly down to the cargo bay. Once, it had been claustrophobic with both her and Jack inside, now the elevator was downright cozy.

"I can walk you know." Lix offered, not attempting to wriggle free in the least. She enjoyed this new clingy Jack, one who held her and pampered her instead of teased her.

"Well, I was just worried people would see you still walkin' funny, is al- ouch!"

Or so she had hoped.

"Gnah… prick." Claws clacked on steel as Lix, did indeed, wriggle free from the chuckling man's grasp, crossing her thin arms with a pouty harumph. Every time she thought the man might be getting more lovey dovey, he'd go right back to being a… well… a guy. Part of her liked that part of him while part of her wanted so much more, and yet a whole different part of her wanted something altogether different. And another part still wanted something different for sure… It was a maelstrom of emotions that drove the Kux'lar to fight a rising moody haze.

"So! You hungry? I know a place." Jack offered with a waggle of his eyebrows. A hand found his way to the raptor's lithe shoulder as the airlock klaxon sang its shrill song. Whatever internal battle Lix may have been fighting vanished with a quick jerk of her ruby red muzzle, drool already beginning to fall from her maw.

"Noo-… Noodles?"

"Oh yeah, baby. Noodles." Joy, almost… almost, as bright and resplendent as when she'd placed fifth in the preliminary filled Lix's scaly chest like a flowing river of milk and honey. Memories of the supernova of flavor that had rocked her tastebuds flooded her mind with an unstoppable torrent that made stars sparkle in her eyes. It was only now that she discovered how stomach churningly painful her hunger was. Neither of them had eaten since before the race…

"Noooooodlesssss… let's go!" Lix stamped an impatient dance in the airlock as the door cycled, releasing her into Koorka Station once more. Jack could only chuckle as he watched the racer spin in a circle, the only real movement the small compartment allowed, until the hatch finally slid open. A familiar face awaited them at the bottom of the on ramp, one that smiled like a gleaming star.

"Jack, welcome back." Franky greeted them with arms outstretched. "And miss, I didn't catch your name last time."

"Fraaaaanky!" Jack slipped past his smiling compatriot to pull the smaller man into a mechanical bear hug, lifting his fellow Human off the deck for a moment before releasing him with a whine of servos. "You look better off than last time. Enjoying your promotion after Saf's accident?" True to Jack's word, Franky's uniform and gear shined with both use and care, as did all the other dock workers that rushed about nearby.

"That I am. Unlike Saf, I'm putting a Roark or two back into the docking station and my crew. And treating my customers correctly, of course." His gaze turned towards Lix with a grin. "I didn't catch your name last time, you were a bit put out."

"I was frozen nearly solid by my asshole monkey. Name's uh… just call me Lix." A red scaled hand lifted, claws outstretched, one that Franky happily took.

"Ah, Lix it is then. The boys say you're a racer or some such. They watched your last run. I'm, unfortunately, still getting my feet under this dock. Heard you won though?"

"Sort of," Lix blushed, her head tilting. "Came in fifth from starting twentieth. I'll be taking place in the 'Roid Racing League." Franky whistled as the trio began a slow, meandering pace towards the arrival gate, several workers and technicians flowing around them like organic streams.

"That's a deadly business."

"I've got help." Lix grinned, taking Jack's arm in a firm grip. Her smile only grew when he didn't pull away.

"Say, Franky, how's the weapons market on Koorka lately?" Jack asked, his grin shifting to a more stern countenance.

"Ah… not so great. Local gangs are eating up both hardpoints and handhelds. Local companies are hiring more privateers to guard their storefronts as per policy on the inner station rings while the lower decks are damn near abandoned by anyone who doesn't want to get shot." Franky ran a hand through his slicked back hair, sighing deeply. "Bodies get jettisoned from airlocks and waste reclamations report an excess of organic material every day now." Jack twisted his lips at that, his brows furrowing in thought.

"What does that mean, the waste reclamations?" Lix intervened, her head tilting to and fro as she clenched the Human's arm tighter.

"Not important, but it does mean if we want to find ya some guns for that girl, it's gonna be a gamble on the lower decks." The worry on Jack's face was something the Kux'lar was unused to. Not even before the race had he shown so much as a twitch of anything more than complete confidence. Here, however, the man hesitated, even going so far as to raise his free hand and attempt to gnaw on a nonexistent fingernail. Something about the lower decks… scared Jack.

And the very fact that Jack was scared sent icy shivers down Lix's back.

The man had become something of a rock in her life, staunch and unmoving, a place she could hide behind and be safe from the torrent. For the first time however, the boulder shifted. Barely, nearly imperceptible, but the vulnerability was there, and Lix was reminded that Jack was still a man, a person just like her. In a way that… lifted a weight from her shoulders she didn't know was there. Inadvertently, her stalwart mechanic had started to become something in her eyes he certainly was not; invincible. It was good, she decided, that this reminder of his humanity had come sooner rather than later. Her smile went unnoticed as Jack picked up the pace.

"Can I trust ya to transport the No Safety Measures to the Stripped Bolt, Franky? I'll worry about all that crap when I'm neck deep in her… mmmmm… innards…" Jack closed his eyes in bliss, his mind drifting off on a cloud of imagination and golden drive plumes.

"Uh… sure, man…"

"Come, sexy lizard lady!" Jack declared to all with ears to hear, regardless of whether they wanted to or not. With a heave, and a satisfied trill from said lizard, the mechanized mechanic scooped Lix into his arms and began a steady march towards the arrival gate, workers grinning at the sight of a Kux'lar wrapping her arms around a Human's neck as he absconded passed the counter that was the final resting place of Saf and into the crowded corridors of Koorka Station once more. "Heeellllooooo Kooooooorkaaaaa!" Jack hollered, several passerby leaning away from the madman while more still cheered his roar. Lix was one of them, her deadly clawed feet waggling, coming dangerously close to opening a poor woman's neck as she ducked away.

"Gosh, I'm glad to be back!" Lix warbled happily, her eyes shut with glee. Once upon a time, she had called home a planet that no longer mattered. After her father had grown too old to travel, settling down on a nice wet garden world, she'd just flown, following the races. Now… now she could say with confidence that Koorka was home… that the Stripped Bolt was home even though she'd only graced these steel walls for but a few days and barely seen a tenth of the station. But Jack was here, and good food too. And home always had the best food.

Familiar as a lover's touch, the scent of noodles wafting from Shio-udden Ramen-ifications made her mouth water, liberally, as streams of carnivore drool splattered the deck at her paws. With an excited trill, Lix leapt from Jack's arms and towards the very same stool she'd plopped her tail down at last time, eagerly bouncing and waving at the massive chef slamming a huge, rounded pan onto a stove like it owed him an inheritance.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Marty, Marty!" Lix shouted, her tail flagging. "Maaarty! Hey! Noodles!"

"Ngh."

"You're the best and I love you! Oh, and one for Jack I guess." Lix waved a hand at the much more controlled Human that was currently making the arduous journey into the seat next to her.

"Jack is back."

"That I am, old pal." Without need for an order, two steaming bowls of spicy, noodley goodness was quickly presented before the duo. Lix wasted little time in using her claws to shovel a long string of perfectly cooked culinary perfection into her slavering maw, her tail and toe claws curling in unashamed delight. The din of the crowd eased to naught more than background annoyance with each inch that slipped between her lips, glistening drops of broth splattering to color her ruby lips like tiny twinkling stars that were quickly snuffed out by her thin tongue.

"Mmmmngh… just as good as last time! Mmmmm…." Marty nodded, all was as it should be. "Alight white meat," Lix continued after a noisy swallow. "Tell me about these lower decks. I wanna know what I'm getting into if I'm going to use you as a shield."

"Ha, why am I not surprised?" Jack took a moment to fling several bites of his own meal down his throat with two metallic fingers before twisting in his stool. "The lower decks are pretty much gang stompin' grounds. Just one big turf war 'tween 'em all with no clear winner. Ask who the most dangerous is though, an' the most likely answer you'll get is the Ripper gang."

"Ripper gang?" Lix asked around a mawful of food, ducking her head as broth spilled from between her fangs.

"Freaks and psychos. Love replacin' their organic bits with implants designed around weaponry. Best gun runners in the whole sector, both handhelds and hardpoints. Likes to sell rival gangsters and tourists organs for gun money." Jack waggled his own arms for emphasis.

"What's that mean? Handhelds and hardpoints? I mean… beyond the obvious."

"Just what it sounds like. Handhelds are anything you can hold, from a bludgeon to a pistol. Hardpoints go on ships, no secret slang there." A moment of silence passed as the two settled into their bowls, slurping loudly to let the chef know they just couldn't wait to get the good stuff in their mouths. Jack, particularly, could feel the accumulated stress vanishing with each and every bite. Before he'd settled down on Koorka he'd drifted from station to station, either finding himself restlessly wishing he were elsewhere or angering the locals to the point he found it best to move on to grimier pastures.

Thoughts of home… his first home… flit across his memory like moths searching for a flame that no longer flickered, aimless and circling. Or like a fly that refused to die, more like. Koorka was his home now, or more aptly, the home of the Gerthtrude.

Yes… the Gerthtrude… At any given moment he could slap his happy self in the pilot's seat and disappear in a vanishing drive plume to parts unknown. Only thing that might keep him from doing so was noisily scarfing down empty carbs next to him. At the very least, he would see her through her racing dreams. There was no denying the absolute blast he'd had flying shotgun in the No Safety Measures during a breakneck race through an asteroid belt. Not to mention the ensuing night they'd had afterwards…

Warning bells rang in his head about tying himself down, about making too tight a connection or crossing a wire he couldn't easily untangle. Sometimes it was worth it to ignore the warnings though, wasn't it? They wouldn't have placed so high in the preliminary if he'd feathered the engine due to heat limitations, after all. Maybe it was okay to play this rebuild without consulting the manual…

"Anyway, before we even start to think about slapping some guns on your little arrow," He started, opting to drink his remaining soup like a warm tea. "We need to fix the damage from pushing her too hot. She should be back in my shop soon." Lix had no such self-control, gulping her bowl down as if they were in the throes of a drinking context, her throat undulating with each pass of the delectable liquid.

"Pwaaahhh! Ahhhh, that hits the spot… but yes, fix my ship you monster." Her tail curled around the man's ankle as Marty took her dish without a word, the Kux'lar nodding her thanks. Not even a cycle ago, the rough and tumble crowd would have put her on an anxiety inducing edge, but now? The smelly throngs of people and warm noodles sitting in her belly swirled to ease her mind and banish her worries. She had her best crewmate beside her, the No Safety was heading to the best shop on the station, and everything would be okay!

Surely.

"Alright, let's get a move on." Jack rose with a sigh, patting his full belly. "I want to get started on that tear down sooner rather than later."

"You just want inside my ship."

"That too, won't deny it." If a grin could be anymore lecherous, Lix hadn't seen it. Still, even that bolstered her mood. Things really were looking up, not even the hovering specter of her, maybe, still active bounty could lessen the high the racer was currently floating on. With a toothy grin, she followed Jack through the tight crowd to the very place she'd met him, The Stripped Bolt.

For reasons she couldn't really explain, the sight of the shop filled her with a blooming excitement, like seeing an old friend for the first time in years. It was nothing more than just another hatch set into the long curving corridor that was the outer ring of Koorka Station with a flickering LED sign over head depicting a bolt with destroyed threads. The last time she'd been here, she hadn't even noticed it, too panicked to even notice where she was going beyond directories and signs. Now however, she felt like she was returning to a shelter in a storm.

Jack paused at the door to enter some ridiculously long code into a security panel in the wall before the hatch hissed open, a bloom of stale air blasting his face as interior lights blinked to life. Nothing had changed, not even the dust on the floor or the hastily dropped oxy torch he'd dropped behind the counter before he'd last left when he'd dragged Lix off for noodles what felt like weeks ago now.

Several turrets powered down into safe mode at his entry, the man hopping the counter and sighing in relief at the sight of the No Safety Measures secured safely in docking clamps in his garage. It seemed Franky had made good on his word to deliver the racing vessel via automated drones through the shop's launch tube.

"Haahaaa! Look at 'er! All trussed up and vulnerable, unable to escape! Can star ships blush? I bet it looks just like that!" Jack leered, rubbing his hands together as Lix waltzed up to lean on his side, crossing her thin arms with a scowl.

"Jaaaack."

"Oh, I'm gonna do things to her. Things that make the council of law write new laws an' shit. I'm gonna that wind me up on some kinda show they air when everyone is asleep." Lix could only shake her head and sigh, throwing her hands in the air with the defeat of a woman left for a several hundred-ton pile of steel.

"I'm going to sleep in your bed."

***

Dreams weren't something Lix could recall being able to remember in quite some time, not the details at least. Oh sure, the Kux'lar was aware she had them, but never anything more than a hazy soup of sensory overload. Tonight though, in complete contrast to the glowing mood she'd laid her scaly head down with, her dreams were wrought with nightmares that had her tossing and turning and whimpering with no one to save her.

Ghosts of rounds slamming through her cockpit to expose her to the unforgiving vacuum of deep space as vile fans watched her demise, or an unseen asteroid ending her dreams in a pathetic splash of vapor and expanding steel, or some stray missile tearing the back of the No Safety Measures and ripping Jack limb from limb plagued her sleep. More than once, Lix blearily woke only to cry quietly in confusion and beg whatever Gods that would listen to dispel the filth that was infesting her mind and roll over to try slumber once more. Why? Why, after having such a great day, was her night shaping up to be so awful? Was it some unseen law of balance? Was it the universe telling her that the good times were only temporary, and things would some day return to the horrid grind she'd recently escaped from?

Eventually, and mercifully, the Kux'lar found herself too exhausted for dreams, falling into a cool, empty void that welcomed her when normal dreams would not. Here she rested, if not fully, at least reasonably. Unfortunately, it lasted all too little, Lix rising with a stretch and a groan, pulling the sheets of Jack's measly cot to her nose to inhale the old scent that had worked its way permanently into the cloth. Every inhale eased her nerves of the suddenly terrible night, her nostrils flaring to pull within her the scent she'd come to attribute to safety… to friendship… With each breath the terror of her dreams died, replaced by the phantom sensation of cold yet strong alloy arms around her thin shoulders.

Reluctantly, but also unwilling to attempt sleep once more, Lix dragged her tail from Jack's cot and wandered into the shop proper, not even bothering to clothe herself. The sight that greeted her sent her stomach plummeting with a terrified squeak. Several panels had been removed from the No Safety Measure's aft end, held aloft on apertures leading from the massive shop lifts that dropped from the garage ceiling and held her precious vessel in a vice like grip. What had truly made her terrified were the several pieces of engine that were also removed and set aside on pallets nearby, the sound of metal on metal and music wafting from within the gaping hole in her beloved racer filling the Kux'lar with a primal terror only felt by those who knew they were about to spontaneously combust.

"N-No no, he knows what he's doing. Yeah! This is normal. Nooormal… ngh… gnah!" Lix paced back and forth in a quick, panicked trot before quickly scampering up the rope ladder leading to the open port airlock, making a beeline for the engine room. The sight of Jack, several safety clamps surrounding him along with many holoscreens depicting her specific engine model and its internals, stopped her short. Each one was zoomed in on a technical display she couldn't even dream of understanding, hoses, panels, and shielding all arranged in an orderly pattern about the man or hanging from strong wires led to the image of some mechanical wizards shop.

This… this was her engine room, but it was Jack's domain. Yes, he knew what he was doing. Currently the mechanic was waist deep in what she only knew as her drive's manifold near the… magnetic containment? Several of the panels appeared strangely shaped, bringing to mind memories of his comments on warped components and heat. Cautiously, Lix leaned as far as she dared, her worry easing as she tilted to see Jack use some strange device to clean the extremely small holes that made up her manifolds, nearly microscopic debris, dust in all but name, falling from each hole as he pushed and pulled some wickedly thin rod in and out.

"Hey Jack, I'm next to you."

"Hey beautiful." He acknowledged, not ceasing his work.

"Strange to see you so deep in another lady. You weren't near so gentle with me."

"If memory serves, you begged me not to be."

"I most certainly did." Lix grinned, stepping back to lean on the edge of the engine room's hatch.

"Well, this particular lady is more delicate, more refined."

"And yet you're spelunking in her innards. It's always the 'refined' ladies that turn out to be the freakiest." The sound of Jack's laughter bounced around the inner working of her engine like a rusty bell, his legs crossing over each other in an uncomfortable looking twist.

"What can I say, it was easier getting in you than it was her." His laughter died when Lix risked kicking said legs.

"Ow! Don't be jealous, babe! It took a lot of lube and persuasion to get in this girl. Mechanical assistance and whatnot, you just let me in, practically sprung a leak! Had to plug it up." Jack chuckled, his hand reaching for some ratchet near his hip. "Pass me that ten inch?"

"Trust me dude," Lix huffed, leaning down to push the metal rod closer to his searching hand. "You really don't need to compensate like that, the holos lie."

"And you need to trust me when I say this lady needed tools to open up, know what I'm sayin'? Don't be jealous, I'm actually proud of you for being an au' natural gal."

"You are such a… such a guy! Lube, tools, wires, all this assistance to make up for a lack of skill."

"You ladies started it. One battery operated cucumber and it's all been downhill from there." Lix couldn't hold in her snickers, settling on the deck with both legs out to one side.

"We gave up guys learning how to properly roll their hips and took things into our own claws."

"I mean, if y'all could put out an instruction video every two years or so…"

"So, changing topics away from ladies and being inside them." From this lower vantage point, the Kux'lar could nearly look Jack in the eyes, the man whistling when he noticed she was sans any sort of clothing. In retaliation, her tail lightly smacked his thigh, only to curl around his leg with a gentle warmth. "The lower decks, I'll be following your lead, big guy. Don't even try and tell me to stay behind though." Jack was quiet for some time, the mirth gone from his face as he worked on each and every single mirco-hole that covered the face of the manifold.

"I'd prefer it if you stayed but if you're adamant… well, you're the captain. Just stick close to me and follow my lead. Never show you're scared either, and don't let anyone get behind you." His warning brought back to mind her nightmares; images of his lifeless body ravaged by missiles slowly floating in several different directions causing the scaly ridges that passed as her eyebrows to furrow.

"That bad down there, huh?"

"Not my first choice for a romantic get away. People who go to the lower decks unprepared end up dead. People who go to the lower decks thinkin' they're hot shit wind up bein' made examples of. Ain't a fun place, but there's lots of business to be had."

"And guns to be bought." Lix's tail tightened around the man's leg as he twisted and turned, his tool whirring as more and more dust fell from manifold holes.

"Or stolen, whichever happens first. What irks me is there ain't no way to tell what kinda state the weapons market is in down there until you take a look at it. Could be a huge waste of time and a big risk for no reason." Lix grimaced at that, her clawed hands worrying over each other.

"And if it is?"

"We come back up here and go back to the drawing board. I can fix the No Safety Measures, already got better parts comin' in. Pulled some strings, asked around, shopped a 'lil. But guns? That's harder to shop for, especially on Koorka."

"Why's that?"

"Well, 'cause on Koorka, everyone wants one and no one wants to pay for it." Jack sighed, working at a particularly stubborn hole before pulling his tool free to rub at the connection disks where his implants met his shoulders. Lix watched wordlessly as he pulled an inhaler from his pocket and took a deep drag, working his arms as best he could in the tight confines of the manifold. "If the lower decks don't pan out, we'll have to… branch out, ask around the nearby stations, go hunting a little."

"Gnah… I'm not a fan of ifs, maybes, perhaps, and almosts. Got a real back up plan?" Lix pressured, feeling a rising sense of unease. She didn't like putting her paw down, especially not on Jack, at least not like this. However, it was the Human himself that had said she needed to act like a captain if she was going to run a crew… Her slitted eyes watched him as he hemmed and hawed, his face reflecting her own discomfort.

"… Yes… I… Might now a place we could get some damn fine hardware guaranteed."

"Then why don't we just go there instead of this super duper dangerous black market?"

"This super duper dangerous black market is leagues safer than… never mind. We'll cross that lightyear if we come to it. For now, I've this filthy manifold to clean. Ohhhh yeah, baby you like that? I've got my best tool for the job set to the gentlest vibration setting possible." Lix rolled her eyes but smirked nonetheless, watching as he got back to the task at metal hand.

"Mmmmm, it's kinda hot watching you work on another lady now that I'm thinking about it."

"Ya hear that? She likes to watch." Jack reached up to run a hand along the inner plating that protected the manifold, Lix shaking her head in good nature. It didn't stop the man's warning from swimming around her scaly noggin however. Jack was never one to shy away from a conversation topic, so the fact that he damn near ran from one was… concerning. In the end, however, it was neither here nor there. Confidence was something that manifested good fortune! Or so her Pa had said, at least. So confident and positive she'd be. Koorka Station, as it always had, would come through, she'd have her guns, and the No Safety Measures would be better than ever!

Maybe she could even get a nice Lix sized gun that fit her claws and get Jack to teach her to shoot! He'd need to show her the ropes of ship-to-ship combat anyway, and if their encounter with Ters was any indication, the man knew his way around a bit of violence. Yes, everything was looking up for Lix and crew, aside from a few stray nightmares, she decided.

Every step forward progress, Lix demanded of herself as she watched her mechanic work eagerly in the bowels of her beloved racer. Every step forward…