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“I expect you to do your duties, nothing more, nothing less.”
His nostrils flared, then nothing, impassiveness. No muscle movement, no breathing, just impossibly straight shoulders and a light that haloed in his eyes as he said, “At your leave, Captain.”
The quick sidestep, the walkout, all of it was done with mechanical precision. The lack of swagger to his gait completely noticeable.
The door shut to the bay, leaving her completely and utterly alone. Her communication insert was quiet, the conversation over, but the lump beneath her skin still existed. The quick touch reassured her of that, but somehow it felt quieter than before.
QUINN
Quinn just kept going, doors snapping open and then closing promptly behind him. Irrationally angry. Enough so that he considered remotely deactivating Watson’s body. He knew that was stupid. Nothing inappropriate had happened.
Nothing, he told himself. It was nothing, but when he went to dinner, walked into the room, saw all the people, saw Watson standing behind Kira, his hand on her shoulder, Kira looking at Watson, he decided he wasn’t in the mood for any of it. Turning on his heel before anyone could say anything to him, he walked right back out.
Passing Kira’s door to his own, the tightness of his jaw audibly gave way to a loud crack as he adjusted it with his palm. He collapsed onto his bed.
Then he heard, “Quinn?”
It wasn’t his imagination. His processor told him that. So he rose, his expression flat as the door opened. The room behind him spartan to her sight. A bed, a guitar he’d fabricated, an exercise machine, but nothing else. “Yeah?”
“I brought your dinner.” She tentatively held out a plate with a lid.
“Thanks,” he said, accepting the plate. Not immediately shutting the door in her face, but also not saying anything else. He didn’t know how he felt or what to say.
“If you don’t want to join everyone for dinner, I can start sending it up. I know how overwhelming it must be.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing his nose. “I enjoyed eating with you. But yeah... I didn’t like what I saw in the mess hall.” Which was vague because he wasn’t actually sure what had upset him more. The people or Watson.
“What you saw in the mess hall?” A tilt of her head, a quick roving of his face, lips slightly parted, his algorithm kicked in… concern and confusion.
“Yes.”
“I know we’re a rowdy bunch sometimes.” She bit her bottom lip, drawing in the lower part just slightly underneath where her canines sat. Further concern.
“I dunno. I’m kind of annoyed with Watson,” he muttered, backing into the room to sit on the bed and eat.
“With Watson?” Her shoulder met the doorframe, legs crossing at her ankles.
Quinn grunted. He didn’t even know why he talked about it. He had no reason to be angry with Watson. The android, looking at Kira, got his insides all twisted up. As if Watson thought he was so great, when Quinn had literally grown the body he walked around in. Watson just went around being handsome and touching Kira like it was some right of his.
“He is grateful to you. You’ve given him something that he would not have had for sometime otherwise. It would have been when we returned at the earliest, and that would not have been for a few more years at least.”
“Maybe.” The way he said it not unlike a child who was trying to imply that was the reason he was upset and she should drop it. It was an entirely unconvincing way to say it. He couldn’t know she might piece together that he didn’t know why he was upset anymore.
“Maybe. May I come into your room?”
He nodded.
“It is alright to be conflicted about some things, Quinn. We’ve been alone for a long time, and this is adding in a lot of new dynamics.” She perched on the end of his bed. It gave him space, but the proximity set off his sensor again, concern.
The door slid shut the instant she sat. Okay with Kira being inside, but he didn’t want anyone, especially Watson, coming up to his door and thinking they could interrupt.
“I don’t like it.” He picked at his food like he had no appetite. Usually, even when he was upset about something, he ate normally.
“I know, but I think if you got to know some of them, it might make you more comfortable, even Watson. However, if you don’t want to, we can have lunch sometimes, just you and me.”
“I’d like that.” He didn’t like having others around. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to share her, to share this with anyone.
“Alright, I can do tomorrow, but it may be late. Morgan and Rick are coming on board and they’ve made me promise to give them a tour of all the new features when they get here. Rick got the specifications for the security changes that were made, but I doubt Morgan even bothered to read the manual.” She didn’t roll her eyes at Morgan, but it lingered there somewhere in the way she said it.
