shook his head as water ran into his face.

Jainan had to suppress the urge to laugh when it occurred to him that Kiem could very literally drown in his hair. He must be tired if he was finding that funny. He took hold of Kiem’s hand and disentangled it, inexplicably gratified.

“Try not to fall over for two minutes, and I promise you can go to sleep.” Kiem made a noise that might have indicated cooperation.

Jainan did a reasonable job of rinsing them down, given the circumstances, and managed to get Kiem dry afterward. Drying Jainan’s hair was a lost cause even with the heater, but he was too tired to care about it being damp. Kiem was now unapologetically leaning on him to stand.

When they emerged from the bathroom, Jainan was tired, strangely content, and not expecting it when Kiem attempted to pull away.

“What is it?” Jainan said.

“Need to get out the bed,” Kiem said.

Jainan stopped where he was. The folding bed. Kiem’s eyes had darted to his face as he’d said that, and though Jainan had once thought he would never be able to read Kiem, he could now take a confident guess.

“Kiem,” he said deliberately. “You’re my partner. Come to bed.”

Relief broke over Kiem’s face like sunlight. “You mean that? You mean that.”

“Obviously,” Jainan said. “Apart from anything else, you’re going to be asleep before you can even turn over.” He guided Kiem to the bed, and Kiem half collapsed on it, tugging Jainan down with him.

Jainan let himself fall. A bone-deep exhaustion rolled over him as he settled beside the weight of Kiem. They had to catch a shuttle tomorrow. They still weren’t confirmed by the Resolution, and the whole sector hung in the balance.

He was so tired. He turned his face toward the warmth from Kiem’s skin and slipped into sleep.

CHAPTER 21

In the vast silence of deep space, Thea hung like the chime of a single pure note.

Its ultramarine seas glittered and shifted under a delicate ring of silicate and ice, rotating imperceptibly behind the observation window of Carissi Station. Kiem had seen a couple of the Empire’s planets from space—Eisafan, Rtul—but he was prepared to award Thea the prize for first impressions, with a bonus entry for Planet He Might Consider Dating.

“You’re humming,” Jainan said from beside him.

“Am I?” Kiem hung over the observation railing. He must have picked up the habit somewhere. He couldn’t remember where; he was tone-deaf, but the urge was irresistible. “I’m in a good mood.” He leaned slightly too far and had to push himself back. Carissi Station kept eight-tenths of full gravity, which made every movement an adventure. They’d been stuck on a shuttle for three days—a budget shuttle Bel had picked for them, which didn’t even have real-time comms

—and he should be worrying about the treaty, but with Jainan there he’d barely noticed the time pass. Of course, sleeping through the first twenty-four hours might have something to do with it.