Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

SLYDAR

It happened when I was at work. A crisp, cold day, but not too bad outside in the sun at the skate park. I had a new client, Rhianne, from Carina Galaxy, brand new to Nineton.

She was sporty, and we got on the hoverboard quick like. I started her out on the required First Timer course, but took her to ground after only a minute 'cuz I knew she was ready for more. Her balance was perfect, and she had a presence that told me she knew her way around everything athletic.

"You been on a hoverboard before, Rhianne?"

Head shake.

"Whatcha do for workouts?"

"Little this. Little that."

Raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "Martial arts. High intensity training. Stand-up paddle boarding."

"Hah, ha, ha!" Booming laughter from me.

I showed her the basics for directing the board 'cuz she was accomplished enough to handle it on her own. "Stay low to the ground for a bit. Show me what you can do."

While Rhianne coaxed the hoverboard into going the right way, I caught a scent on the breeze. Acrid. Like bitter coffee with a dash of vinegar. Dad. My mind instantly opened to him, but he wasn't on the telepathic plane in the same way anymore.

I paused a sec, and remembered I was supposed to hear the breeze. It was only barely there, crisp and cool. I didn't notice anything.

Rhianne finished her lesson. "You got a quiet presence about your mind, Rhianne. Not everyone can pull that off. I know you're not a telepath. You something else?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "Is that what people do here? Just come right out and ask?"

I shrugged. "It's what I'm doin'. My girl and I moved here not too long ago 'cuz a my dad's surgery. Cybernetics. He'd hacked his relay. You know about those?"

Nodding.

"We're all telepaths, everybody in my family, so we stayed. We like it here. Feels safe, even though it's still life. If you need friends, you can't go wrong with people like Rory and her family."

I felt her relax, and she nodded. "Thanks. I uh— well, yeah. I'm different."

"Okay. Say no more unless you wanna. I'm meeting Rory at the diner in a bit. Join us if you wanna meet her."

She smiled, "That sounds really good. Thanks. Um. Are you that Sly Fox guy?"

"Shit."

Laughter from my new friend.

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RORY

"Rhianne! I've never met anyone from Carina Galaxy before! I'm so glad you're here. How's Uno been so far?"

Rhianne had such an open, upbeat personality that I could tell we'd get along right from the start. With a bright blue sweater, spiky short hair and dark eyes, she looked positively spunky sitting in the booth across from me, and she was definitely ready to chat.

"I love it here! Everyone is nice, and it's so clean everywhere. It's weird being so far, far away, but I'm hoping my best friend might visit in a few months. No one back home really understands what I'm doing here. I got a job, of course, so it looks like that's why I moved, but they don't really understand why I went so far. I mean, I'm a lab tech, I can work anywhere. But, I just said I wanted an adventure. Oh sorry, I'm babbling. I haven't really talked much . . ."

"Stop! Go on! I mean, I'll shut up. Keep going. Babble away."

"I saw the graphics first. I always loved Rilla and Rawl when I was younger, and I saw the Known Cosmos Earth Press did those Avenging Augment volumes, and they were hilarious! I gobbled those down, then started the Dream With Me Now ones. That's when I found the cartoons," she giggled.

"I didn't know at first about the porn ones, but yeah, I found those, and that's when I started realizing that it wasn't all jokes. That there was stuff hidden in them. Five Spheres is mentioned barely ever, but it's there. I looked up Five Spheres and found it was an actual place in Andromeda. And things started coming together for me."

"I got a job easy. Everyone at the hospital who interviewed me wanted to help: suggestions for apartments, travel arrangements, helping me move in. If I hadn't been so convinced that there was something supernatural going on, it would've been creepy, to be honest, but I couldn't wait to get here."

"Then on my first day at work, I met an augment who showed me what he could do, and I couldn't believe my eyes! She was ordering tech around with just her mind, exactly like the graphics and cartoons! Well, that was only two days ago, and now Sly Fox is sitting here telling me you're all telepaths. It's like a dream, only I'm awake."

Brick brought pie out and cleared away the dinner dishes.

Rhianne lowered her voice to a whisper, "I haven't shown anyone what I can do."

She glanced around the restaurant then put her hand around her water glass. Slowly, mist started rising from the glass. Over a minute, the water level of the glass sank, and the air around it looked slightly foggy.

"You make fog out of water, Rhianne?" I whispered.

Nod.

"I don't think it's exactly useful. I mean, when you get outta the shower, you want to wipe the steam off the mirror, right? Who wants fog or mist? But, it's still something I can do that isn't exactly normal."

"Was it cold on your home sphere?" Slydar asked.

Shrug. "Normal I guess. Not as cold as here. It snowed a little in winter, but we had much longer summers."

"If there was thick ice on the sidewalk, could you evaporate it?" he pushed.

"Hmmm. Maybe. I've never tried ice."

Slydar picked an ice cube out of his water glass and set it on a napkin, raising his eyebrows.

Focusing, Rhianne closed a hand over it. Seconds later, fog rolled away from the ice as she smiled, triumphant.

"I could think of some uses for a skill like that. Especially on a sphere frozen by winter most of the year," Slydar grinned.

"I guess I'm practicing more than my hoverboard then."

"Guess you better."

And that's how I met my best friend Rhianne. I didn't tell her my secret identity for a long time, but we got as close as could be, both of us new-comers to Uno. I struggled a lot through my first winter, missing the desert sun and wishing I could go outside more, so Rhianne convinced me to take hoverboard lessons at the indoor skate park with her.

I couldn't really keep up with her, but I did have a good time. No, I didn't break bones or skin knees, I just laughed a lot trying to figure out how to control the damn thing and stay balanced.

"Core strength" they all said, so then I had to start high intensity workouts. Which helped with the winter doldrums too. I wasn't sweating in the desert sun, but I was boiling hot every morning working out.

And I had steamy nights with Slydar, so I made it through that first winter. When summer came again, it brought with it new tidings that none of us were prepared for.