Together by Nicole Mayer

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Together (3/4)
By Nicole Mayer

Morning again. Devon and Danziger went through the now daily ritual of trying to get apart. And still, they were stuck. "Didn't work again, hey John," bantered Devon in a light voice. The air between them had gradually cleared over the last few days, and they were now talking like old friends.

"Nah, must be fate. Us being stuck together like this." "I have to admit, it's not the worst thing that could have happened," admitted Devon.

"Yeah, I could've got stuck to Morgan!"

They both laughed, and continued packing up their things. They worked perfectly as a team, and even the closeness no longer bothered Devon. In fact, she kind of liked having him around all the time. It made her feel safe and not so alone.

"I think if I were stuck to anyone but you, John, I would have ripped their head off by now," laughed Devon. At first, she had internally raged why him of all people? But now she realised that she wouldn't have coped nearly so well with anyone else.

"What can I say, Adair? We make a great team."

***

Yale strode purposefully across the temporary campsite. He was more than a little curious about Bess's latest project - she had been asking him for old-style Earth recipes in recent days ever since they had discovered an edible fruit similar to grapes.

Bess looked up from the pot she was stirring, and gave a beautiful smile. "Oh, hi Yale! Just the person I needed to see!"

"Good morning, Bess," he replied. Leaning over the visible fumes, he inhaled deeply.

"What do you think?" asked Bess, her nose crinkling in an expression of expectation.

Yale paused to think for a moment. "Quite a -strong- odour. Tell me, what is it?"

"Hopefully, it's going to turn out as some sort of grape cider. You know, with a touch of alcohol?" Bess paused her stirring to study the bubbling liquid, then continued, "It's not like the synthesised stuff we had back on the stations, it's going to be the real drink. I think my father had a bottle stashed away back on Earth, something he'd inherited from his grandfather."

Yale took a closer look at the liquor. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this is the *traditional* way of brewing such a drink."

"Oh, I know that," assured Bess. "It's just that we have the grapes now, and I thought it would be nice if we experimented a little! I've modified the recipes you gave me so that it doesn't need to ferment for years." Bess leaned forward and whispered excitedly, "I think it'll be ready by tonight!"

"Well, that's wonderful!" Yale was genuinely pleased for Bess's achievement, it was just one more sign that this planet was truly becoming their home.
"Just a word of warning, though. Alcohol can have quite extreme effects if not taken in moderation."

"Oh, I know. But no one's going get drunk on this!" Bess casually tossed aside Yale's caution. She was looking forward to an evening of harmless fun.

***

"Row, row, row your boat..." chorused Baines, Alonzo and Walman, lurching about in a mockery of a chorus line. Somehow, the ancient nursery rhyme had survived all the ages and was still taught to all young children. Besides that fact, it was the only song the three men could remember the words to.

" 'Lonzo, dance for us!" slurred Bess, feeling proud that her creation had gone down so well. Almost too well, if she judged by Julia's disapproving glance, but Bess was having too much fun to care.

"Okay, men, let's show these lovely ladies," Alonzo fluttered his eyelashes in the general direction of Bess, Julia, Denner and Magus, "just what we can do! Follow me," he directed, and paraded forward. Baines and Walman fell in step behind him, and the three men continued their chant, kicking out their legs at random times. On their second circuit around the small fire, Alonzo stumbled over his own feet, and half fell into Julia's lap.

"Hey, doc, wanna dance?" he leered. "Get lost, Alonzo," Julia said wearily. She'd analysed Bess' "cider" and had warned everyone against drinking too much. Pity no one had listened.

"I'll dance with you!" jumped up Bess. "Conga line!" she shrieked with laughter, grabbing onto Walman's waist. "We used to," she began, then stopped to kick out one leg and let out a peal of laughter. Jogging forward, Bess shook her head, trying to remember what she wanted to say. "We used to do this back on Earth!"

Magus grabbed onto Bess' waist and joined the fun. Soon almost everyone was dancing. Weaving in and out through the vehicles, Alonzo spotted Morgan sitting mournfully by himself. An empty mug lay by his feet, signalling that Morgan was as drunk as the rest of them.

Morgan looked up at the laughing group, and sighed. "Why me? Why was I cursed to crash on this planet?" He unsteadily got to his feet. "It's the moons' fault, you know. Curse you!" Morgan shouted, shaking his fist heavenward. "It's a cosmic conspiracy!"

"Hey Morgan, whatcha doin'?" called Baines. Morgan heaved a great sigh. "Why me?" he bayed at the moon again, looking so much like a lone wolf on a prairie that Bess had a sudden notion that he was descended from the wolf family. It was a striking thought, one brought on by her current state of mind, but unfortunately, it was soon forgotten and the mystery of Morgan's heritage remained for all time.

"Chill out, man!" said Alonzo, coming to an abrupt halt. Baines immediately slammed into the back of him, causing an eight person pile-up.

"Hey, why're we stopping?" someone complained. "My *good* friend Morgan here hasn't joined the party yet," Alonzo declared.

Morgan took one look at him, and prepared to bolt. "Oh no you don't," he said, backing away quickly, "there's no way you're getting me dancing." He stumbled over a non-existent rock.

"C'mon, Morgie, it's lots of fun," wheedled Bess. Leaving the line and giving him a dazzling smile, she extended one hand. Morgan's vision blurred and he felt dizzy. That always seemed to happen when he realised again how beautiful his wife was. And suddenly, Morgan didn't see what was so bad about dancing after all.

"Well, okay. I'm in!" Everyone cheered as he took his place behind Bess.

"Ready?" called Alonzo.
"Yeah!" came the chorus of replies. "A ra-cha cha-cha cha, hey!" and the line resumed its meandering path through the dark shadows beneath the light of two full moons.

Julia sighed deeply as she heard the cacophony begin again. Yale came up quietly and sat beside her. "Never mind, Julia, they'll come to their senses in the morning."

"Yeah, when they've got a horrible hangover," Julia replied darkly. Pushing her blonde hair back behind her ears, she exclaimed, "Why won't people learn? Alcohol is a dangerous drug! It's been proved a thousand times over throughout Earth's history, and it was one of the good things we left behind when our ancestors immigrated to the stations."

The older man carefully pondered her question. "I really don't have an answer for you, Julia. But let them have their fun. We all need a little light-heartedness now and then."

"I just hope Devon doesn't expect to get too far tomorrow. I don't think anyone is going to be able to stand up after this!"

"That reminds me," broke in Yale. "Where are Devon and Danziger? I haven't seen them for quite some time."

"Probably as drunk as the rest," Julia said bitterly, "and off cavorting across the plains. Or passed out under a rock."

"No," cautioned Yale, "I don't believe Devon would allow herself to fall under the influence of alcohol. She's got more sense than that." His eyes scanned the dark landscape and the flickering firelight danced over his face. Earlier, the fire had been huge, as Bess was determined to turn the night into a real party. But now it was dying down and glowing embers provided the majority of the light.

"Frankly, I don't really care where they are anyway." Julia stood up. Gesturing to the tents behind her, she declared, "I'm going to bed. I'll join the only other sensible people in this group, although I bet True and Uly can't sleep anyway."

Yale smiled wryly. "Good luck trying to sleep. And don't worry, everything will be alright in the morning."

"Sure," said Julia tiredly, and she left the warm circle of firelight in search of rest.

The line of dancers swung back into view, and Yale noticed that their enthusiasm had not dwindled. Even Morgan was dancing now! A couple of them paused to grab half-filled glasses and swill down more of the cider, and there seemed to be no end to the supply. Catching sight of Yale, Bess broke free from her position.

"Yale!" she shouted too loudly.
"I hear you, Bess," he said calmly. "What can I do for you?" "You can play music, right?" she asked. "I mean, with your arm and everything?"

"Well, I've never really thought about it. I suppose I could, I do have an entire music database..."

"Great," broke in Bess. Sparkles danced in her eyes, and she commanded, "So play us some songs!"

Yale realised that if he couldn't beat them, he may as well join them, and selected a tune appropriate to the mood. He felt some small sense of satisfaction that there would be no angry neighbours to tell him to turn it down, because as far as he knew, they were alone. For now, anyway.

"Thanks, Yale!" Bess gave him a huge kiss on the cheek, then skipped back to join the dancers who were already inventing new steps to match the pulsating beat. "LET'S ROCK!" she hollered. They did.

***

"Listen."
Danziger did as Devon said, and heard faint strains of real music drift to his ears. He gave a sigh of relief.

"Sounds like they've finally stopped that *terrible* singing," he said.

"Hey, Alonzo's not so bad," protested Devon. "Yeah, but he's drunk."
"So are we."
"Oh yeah, I forgot."

Danziger tilted his head back again to look at the stars. He and Devon were leaning against a rock, having wandered off earlier before they completely lost control in front of everyone else. Now, they were sitting and talking, saying the craziest things to each other, yet somehow everything seemed just right.

"Morgan was right, you know."
"Excuse me?" asked an incredulous Devon. She hadn't expected to hear Danziger *ever* say those words.

"About the stars. They're cosmic. Look, you can even see them swaying..."

"That's your head, moron," chided Devon gently, pushing his head up from her shoulder where it had gradually settled. She gave a small hiccup. She cleared her throat, but had a sneaking suspicion that these hiccups were here to stay.

"Anyway, he wasn't saying that the stars were cosmic. He was cursing the moon. Or something like that." Devon hiccuped again. "Got anymore of that drink?" she asked.

"Nah, and anyway, we're not having anymore. Don't wanna completely lose it."

"Sounds like the others already did," replied Devon, almost jealously, but realising that they would have to pay the consequences later.

In actual fact, she and Danziger hadn't drunk that much anyway. Just enough to feel slightly lightheaded, and willing to take more chances than usual. Like now. Devon felt a chill in the air, and snuggled closer to Danziger.

She took a deep breath and joined his heavenward gaze. "I suppose you're right, they are kind of cosmic," Devon conceded. "And beautiful. I don't spend enough time looking at them." Time passed as they sat together, two sets of eyes focused on the raw beauty of the night with a hazy sense of peace in their hearts.

The tranquillity was broken when Devon involuntarily hiccuped again, and her body shuddered with the spasm.

"Damn," she swore.
"It's only a little hiccup," remarked Danziger, but she turned to him with her eyes flaring.

"I personally *hate* hiccups. They -hic- drive me crazy!"

A cold wind blew through the campsite, and the dancing grass caught Devon's attention. Seeing his opportunity, Danziger leaned over and soundly kissed Devon on the lips.

As they broke apart, Devon's heart was pounding and her head felt suddenly clear.

"What was that for?" she asked cautiously. Danziger gave her a devilish wink. "Got rid of your hiccups, didn't it?"

She stared at him in surprise, realising that her old fear of physical contact hadn't surfaced. More than that, the kiss had felt completely natural, and *right*.

Danziger shifted awkwardly under her intense gaze, and suddenly jumped up. "Come on, let's go join the others. It's getting really cold out here."

When they arrived back at the main clearing, the party was beginning to wind down. People were tiredly dancing in twos and threes, still smiling but realising that the fun was drawing to an end. The fire was now nothing more than a pile of glowing embers, a small beacon in the dark night. It was to this that Devon and Danziger gravitated.

Yale, who had somehow become the dee-jay, announced, "Attention, everyone, this is the last dance. Something romantic, so grab your favourite partner and hold them close."

"How about it, Dev. Wanna dance?" Devon smiled up at him. It wasn't as if she had much choice in her partner, but she appreciated his asking anyway.

"Sure. I'd love to."

He put his free arm around her, and soon they were swaying slowly to the romantic ballad. Devon wrapped her arm around Danziger's neck, and nestled her head on his chest. She closed her eyes, letting the waves of music wash over her and feeling safe and at peace.

Danziger smiled softly into her hair. Beyond the edge of his vision, he was dimly aware of all the other couples. Bess and Morgan. Magus and Walman. Denner and Cameron. And Alonzo, swinging Matazl and Baines around in a mock formal dance...

Blinking at that one, Danziger decided to focus instead on the woman before him who felt so good in his arms. There'd be hell to pay tomorrow when she remembered this, but for now, they could be together and forget the consequences.

"...love you... " the final hushed words drifted across the clearing and the song drew to a close. Devon opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at Danziger.

"Guess we'd better be getting to bed," she sighed. Pulling away from him, she was struck by the sudden drop in temperature. Devon shivered and saw many others doing the same as they stumbled off to their respective tents. Goodnights were called from every direction as Yale doused the last of the fire with water, then surreptitiously poured away the remaining cider. One night of this was enough.

Devon and Danziger entered their tent, with the wind billowing behind them. Still a little lightheaded, Devon tumbled into her small bed beside Danziger's. But tonight, the cold, and the loneliness, was too much to bear. For either of them.

"Devon," began Danziger slowly, "it would be a lot simpler if you'd just come up here with me." She looked at him through heavy- lidded eyes. Another gust of wind rocked the tent, and she conceded the inevitable.

"You're right. It's just too cold to have our arms stuck out all night again," she rationalised, more to herself than Danziger. She squeezed into his bed next to him and sighed peacefully.

"I had a really fun time tonight, John." It was the truth. Somehow, in their near-dazed state, a stronger connection had formed between them. The final barriers had been forgotten and broken down.

"Me too, Devon." Curling her to his chest, he gently kissed her hair and fell asleep listening to the calming, sweet sound of her breathing.

***

For some unfathomable reason, Devon Adair awoke in the darkest hours before dawn. She felt safe and secure, realising dimly that she was sleeping in John Danziger's arms. And it was wonderful.

The air was still bitingly cold, for spring, but it did not disturb their safe cocoon. Devon smiled languidly, and settled back to sleep. Idly, she brought her right hand up to scratch her cheek. Then she stopped.

"This isn't right," she told herself. Her hand - her free hand - that shouldn't be! Quickly, she found Danziger's left hand by his side, and rejoined hers to his. That was better. That was how it was supposed to be.

Drowsiness overtook her once more, and she slipped quietly back into the world of confused dreams. The wind howled outside, but it could not touch her. Nothing could, now...

End of Part 3.

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