Starfire

((Hullo all! The story is now parceled out into chapters and just waiting for editing on further chapters. The story has come out to be 23 chapters with only a few necessary loose ends. But don\'t worry! We\'re working on the next story already and many loose ends are already tied -not to mention a few made into bondage straps OOP! Did I say that out loud? Hee hee. Enjoy the story dear readers!))

Chapter Six:: Walking the Past

Tyrin tilts his head gently at the two of them and kinda laughs nervously... He caught himself being giddy at the thought of seeing Hank... He finally calms down and smiles at Tex\' suggestion, following Owen after giving his partner an eye... he just grins then and leaves him to his fun...

Hey, wait up!\"

He says softly, leaving the room and slipping into the warehouse, looking around at the place... Damn...

\"Damn, man... This is quite the setup! How\'d you get all of this?\"

He asks as his footsteps echo throughout the room before he is indeed flooded with lights... He lifts a hand to get the glare off of him but...

The mech lights up on command. It\'s huge.. almost twice as big as the other two, with an automatic step rather than a ladder. Owen grins, the flood lights filling the space, gleaming off of its side. It\'s without blemish, more than likely never having been used in any skirmish.. or.. considering the enormity of the cannons on his shoulders, maybe just blew the shit out of the competition before they had time to draw a breath.

\"Oh... my... Fuckin\'... GOD!\"

Tyrin\'s arm moves away and he just... Just... gawks at that thing!

\"oooooh, hoo, hoo, hoooo!\"

Jumping up and down on the floor and clapping his hands in total rapture! He\'s never seen -nothing- like this! It\'s... It\'s so beautiful!

\"Dude... This is the most beautiful fuckin\' suit I\'ve -ever- seen!\"

Owen steps up on the small step and holds to the line, then indicates the other for Tyrin. There\'s enough room only for the one foot, and they must both hold to the same hydraulic bar which will pull them up to the cockpit. Though there are hand rungs along the side for if one had lost the hydraulics and needed to get in or out. \"Lets go see, humm?\"

Tyrin gets up on the step then, and watches Owen get them up and he feels his heart bubbling with joy... He wasn\'t attracted to Owen... Owen would be a good friend, that\'s for sure... He wasn\'t paying any attention to his beauty, such as it is... He\'d definitely be good lover for someone someday... But not Tyrin... And he hopes to -god- Tex would try to get them together... he rolls his eyes as the vision popped into his head, but ignores it as Owen speaks...

\"Yes, let\'s get in there! Damn... Too damned pretty...\"

Owen grins with pride, his eyes flashing as he presses the hydraulics button and the lift goes up swiftly, in case of danger. Mech suits weren\'t made to go slow in anything. In less than two seconds, they\'ve risen two stories, then one more.. and at the top, the head of the mech opens and stops just under the ceiling. Owen laughs. \"C\'mon in.. it\'s warm..\" and steps off of the single footed platform. He steps on the center step between the two full seats, each one maneuverable in almost a full circle, and then settles into the seat. Other than some rollers here and there, the seats are in space above the mechanisms below. \"Wait until you see it all..\" Owen seems proud, almost.. overly proud. He\'s done things to this mech that no one has managed to do before.

\"Oh... Shit... I\'m fucking going to have an orgasm, dude!\" Tyrin says as he steps into the cockpit, taking an initial look over things... Controls... Seating... That\'s very important... And Owen\'s got this shit hooked and locked... Everything inside this thing is perfect! Tyrin can tell he put a whole lot of love into putting Hank together...

\"It\'s beautiful, Owen... Really...\"

As soon as Tyrin is settled in, Owen buckles himself and indicates that Tyrin should too. The seats almost hold him, a lover\'s hold to a body, and it shifts some as he settles. Then Owen reaches over and turns on a switch.

The mech purrs into life, so sweet, so soft.. then, \"visors..\" and with that, some 3D circular masks fall over their faces and Tyrin, though his body is in the mech suit, in that chair, can suddenly see as if he were sitting in air. The suit has dissipated, but for a few controls which sit before his fingers, missile read outs and cannon sights at the left hand side of his vision remain there no matter where he turns his head. Owen\'s laugh sounds. \"What do you think?\"

He sits once Owen gets settled and buckles up, laughing as the visor comes down... Too sweet... Way too fucking sweet for words... He pulls it to his face and sees the readings for everything in this piece... Jesus... So much...

\'You got a lot of man here, buddy... A lot of muscle... And a lot to handle too... You fly him by yourself?\" He asks quietly as he goes over where all the controls are placed, getting a few good ideas what and where he can put things on his own suit... he nods in total approval of what Owen\'s done, right down to the sound...

\"You don\'t get a lot of people that can put a good quiet engine on their mechs... That\'s impressive first off... And next... Damn... I like the set up in here... Everything where you can find it... This is some professional shit... Let\'s take him up... I wanna see him in action...\"

Owen laughs and then from the stillness over there, \"No.. we can\'t. Not yet anyway. Though I can run him through some sim shit.. I mean.. stuff..\" his blush almost heard through the words. \"Hank\'s got some good sim programs that I take him through now and again, but I can\'t take him out until dusk. Right about then it\'s more difficult to see the signature flares, so people are likely to think I\'m just running one of the regular mechs I get in. See, Tex isn\'t the only one who brings his suit to me. But if I take Hank out in broad day light, people are more likely to notice he\'s bigger and badder than the rest.. \"

\"Ah... I see...\"

Tyrin says softly, staring through the visor at all the readings carefully... Damn... he has simulations! Which is a good thing to have, especially if he wants to test things out before letting someone fuck with his suit... Tyrin didn\'t have the patience to make sim programs for his suit...

Owen leans forward, some switches turning on and then a press and the engines shift into a higher whine. \"There.. that should do it..\"

The visor instantly flashes, resetting itself, and before they know it, they\'re in the sky. It\'s very believable, without the thrust behind that would have accompanied it. \"You... you can use the weapons systems.. they\'re offline but the sim program will show how they\'d seem, even with the shift of wind and all that..\"

Owen seems.. excited, delighted.. and he laughs. \"Tex said he\'d take Hank on, only that he\'s a guy and Tex is into the wet of Suzanna..\" he chuckles, embarrassed.. \"Darn.. I .. don\'t suppose that sounds right. Anyway.. here.. how about some bogies?\" desperate to change the subject.

A flip of another switch and suddenly four mechs show up upon screen, screaming past without the sound of engines.

Tyrin always been by himself... With no one to work with or go over things with or test things out with, he didn\'t really care... But now, with Tex and Owen, maybe now he could learn how to put some devastating shit on his suit with out causing damage....

\"Hell yes!!\"

Tyrin screams, looking at the screens cracking his neck some and then taking up the controls, taking a crack at the enemies before him, giving chase and firing off some missiles...

\"Dayum!\"

He screams as he sees the pace of the suit\'s thrust and speed... The fire power and missile speed...

\"Damn, that is tooo sweet! This is nice... Real Nice...\"

Owen laughs then, and as Tyrin does some serious and quick destruction, Owen leans forward. \"Okay.. Zero G..\" and a switch, the way the mech moves here is different, moving a mech in zero G takes a bit more talent, you can\'t maneuver so fully or you\'ll go too far. It\'s a matter of degrees.

\"Hmm.. and..\"

Owen\'s contemplating and then with a chuckle shrugs. \"Okay.. here ya go, kid.. bop till ya drop, kay?\" and with a flick, of a switch there\'s a soft humming in the ship under.

It takes a moment, the specs load, the vision on the visor flickers.. there\'s some serious shit coming up then as the normally fast computer has to work a bit to get this shit out.

And suddenly, there they are. The zone a battlefield with one asteroid nearby and a moon a lightyear past, according to the map. In deep space, not any place to hide, and a few green blips on his screen, but a helluva lot of reds.. and according to the way the greens are being decimated, the reds are winning. A ship flies past and as if he were moving swiftly through, his ship is shoved into the middle of the battle zone.. a battle that is meant to be lost, more ships than he even has fire power.

\"Oh, fuck! Damn... You really wanna make sure you can trust me with this thing don\'t you? All right then... Watch this shit...\"

He says this with an almost sultry voice as he plans everything in his head first... What does he have?

\"First... Do you have anything else other than missiles? Like swords? That\'s good to have too... Anything good and fuckin\' sharp... My girl has fire swords on her... They do some hella damage and you saw that... Second...\"

Tyrin goes right up, in Zero G, grabbing one of the ships and simply punching into its side with al the power he can...

\"There\'s another way... Especially with all the speed this fucker has... Can\'t go wrong there... Use all you can use... That\'s my motto... Use all you can fuckin\' use my man... These fools out here are all about their power trips and weapons... But if you have your brains and have your muscle, they\'ll be fucked in the ass before they know it...\"

Tyrin flies in and out, taking up debris and stabbing through shit with that and using anything he can get his hands on... He may not win, but these fuckers know they\'ve been in a fuckin\' fight...

Owen watches, his eyes wide, staring as his demo is suddenly taken out, for the most part. It\'s a way of amazing dexterity, thought, interesting maneuvers...

He winces as one of his destroyers is put to death, and it\'s a real enough thing, down to a body part hitting the shield at one point, but they\'re going too fast in a sense, to place it as much. Not to mention it\'s already frozen. No worry about bug guts in your view out here.

The air is swarming, and he has to fight for a good half an hour.. then the screen explodes into color and there is a soft whirr as the engines power down and the visor shows the outside of the ship once more.

\"Aw!\" Tyrin whines as everything kind of goes up in smoke and the demo ends... he sits back in the seat, combing through his hair as if he\'d been through a big ass battle... Well... he sorta was...

\"I\'m... I\'m sorry, man...\" He says, looking down at the straps wrapped around him moment later... It\'s kind of embarrassing to be a badass out there and then be a total fuck up in simulation... Tyrin\'s the kind of person who\'d take something like that seriously...

There is a sound of unlatching and a breath as Owen pulls off his helmet and stares at the pilot. \"Holy... cow..\" softly. \"Tyrin.. you lasted for.. \" he looks at his watch. \"Almost thirty five minutes.. you almost beat Tex\'s score.. that was.. amazing.. though..\" he says critically. \"You came out with less massive damage to the ship in your tactics..\" he chuckles. \"If it comes down to life and death, I\'d have him fly it, only if there\'s no other way to get out. Otherwise, keep my baby alive, okay?\" he looks at Tyrin. \"You can drive him... no problem..\" his voice soft.

Tyrin takes the criticism like a man and nods, before unfastening the seatbelt holding him in the chair... There was a visible mien disappointment on his face... he didn\'t like to fail in anything... He\'s failed in too many things in his life already...

\"That\'s cool... I\'ll... I\'ll take good care of him...\"

He says this softly and stands, waiting for the cockpit door to be opened... he had a slight sickness hit his stomach... What if they were really out there and he let his pride get the better of him? What if it was Tex next to him? What if he got them hurt? Killed? Tyrin purses his lips and keeps quiet then, finding he can\'t say anything else...

Owen stands as well and the cockpit opens swiftly, the step there. They descend in silence and once upon the ground, Owen reaches out and takes Tyrin\'s arm. \"Hey..\" just holding him long enough to stop him, then dropping his hand. \"Don\'t kick yourself. I made it so that no one can win in that. It\'s supposed to get progressively tougher. Tex knows Hank too.. and you don\'t. But you did amazingly well. You were outnumbered fifty two to one, on average if my calculations are correct in the sim. You\'re not supposed to get out alive, but you\'re also never supposed to get yourself into something like that in real life, right? You use your brain. And if you do, then you can know that after half an hour of putting up with your shit, most of those guys would have run away, sick of getting blasted..\" he nods. \"So don\'t let it get you down, k?\"

He puts his hands behind his head and sighs, staring up at his mech. \"I love this guy... I\'d hate to lose him. But you know?\" he looks sidelong at the pilot next to him, his light eyes silver in the light, \"I\'d hate to lose you guys even more. Tex a lot, of course.. but you too. I mean, you\'re part of this now. And we can take on anyone we can get..\" he flushes a bit, you don\'t tell pilots stuff like that.

But then, Owen was always a bit on the dense side when it came to what one revealed emotionally and what one kept to one\'s self. \"You know.. it\'s been a long time, just me and Tex. It\'s kind of nice to see another face. You did some serious fighting out there and it\'s really impressed him. And it\'s really hard to impress Tex. If he\'s impressed, then I am too.\"

Tyrin wasn\'t even thinking about that... -Why- he wasn\'t thinking about that, he doesn\'t even know... It was a no win battle, Tyrin had to know -that- right? \"I\'m sorry. Owen... Damn... \" He says softly, looking up at Hank and then back at his owner... \"I think too much, I\'m afraid... But thanks...\"

Something Owen says though... Something he says kind of sparks curiosity in Tyrin... He tilts his red haired head to the side a little and looks at Owen softly... \"How long have you known Tex? I mean... You... You two are pretty close, right? I don\'t mean to pry or anything... I just...\"

Tyrin feels his cheeks going another color... he wants to say his falling hard for him... Falling to the depths of hell for Tex... But he can\'t... He can\'t say something like that... Not yet... Not so he can be crushed... No, won\'t have that shit again... \"I\'m just curious is all...\"

He looks away when he feels the fire in his face and he crosses his arms, pretending to look around at this huge fucking place as he feels panic in his heart for what Owen might have read into his words...

But gods... SWEET gods... Ever since yesterday... The bath... Those arms around him... Tyrin has felt -nothing- but love for this man... It\'s all he can feel... And how he -longs- for Tex to feel the same way... Damn... That man is fucking perfect for him! But fate has him wanting pussy... FUCK! Destiny is so fucking cruel!

Owen stares at Tyrin and then whistles low. \"Shit...\" then, as an afterthought, \"sorry..\" a flush rising, realizing how crude he had just spoken. He chews on his lower lip and sighs slow, thoughtfully as he looks around them and then jerks his head to the side. \"C\'mere, Tyrin..\" and his smile beams out kindly from his face as he turns from his new comrade, heading around the fuselage of Hank and the jets to get to the opposite side.

There, a small control room is behind titanium with insulated walls and glass. He grins as he opens the door and ushers Tyrin inside. \"This room is my own design. It\'s got some mixes I made up... the molecular structure is slow, no matter what, but it\'s a liquid, which means it remains really cold..\" but of course, there are warning labels at various points in the room of \"Do not touch, extremely cold temperatures at this point\" with a hand and ice cubes around the fingers.

He closes the door behind him and leads Tyrin to a desk in the center, picks up a photo in glass and holds it out to Tyrin. Upon the glossy surface is a somewhat plain young man with dark hair and a timid smile. Glasses perch on his nose and while he might seem dowdy to many, there is a keen intelligence as well as a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. Owen grins. \"That\'s Hank..\"

Tyrin follows, arms held around himself as he looks about the place, careful where he steps and where he touches, whistling low at the mixtures Owen speaks of...

\"It\'s more cost effective that way isn\'t it? You\'ll have to let me study this...\" He says softly before he\'s handed a picture... Not many pilots he knows keep pictures with them... Unless of course it\'s some person they wished they could have... or someone they fantasized about... But this person.... This person... This man... He seemed... Different somehow... Tyrin tilted his head again...

\"Hank...\" Putting two and two together... This was someone special... \"Your... Lover? Is this your lover, Owen? You... You\'re gay aren\'t you?\"

He would not have believed it... He\'s so beautiful... Like Tex is... he would have thought girls would have been just... Falling all over him... But... Owen is so beautiful... Tyrin doesn\'t know why he didn\'t see it before... Could Owen tell Tyrin was gay right off?

\"I... I guess you already know then, huh? That... That I\'m gay? So... then... I guess you know how I feel about Tex then too... Don\'t... Don\'t tell him though, okay?\" Tyrin blushes furiously... he has no idea if Owen knows anything... But he just let the cat right out of the bag... Maybe he shouldn\'t have... It was bad of him... Of course it was... But Owen would understand... Wouldn\'t he? If he felt that way about Hank... If he would name his machine after that man in the picture... If he would put so much love in making it... He would understand Tyrin, right?

\"He\'s... He\'s just been so good to me... He\'s... done a lot for me in the last day or so... A lot more than anyone has done for me in the last... 24 years of my life... I... I just want to know more about him... I\'m just... Too afraid to ask him you know? He seems like a private person...\"

Owen watches him and nods with a shrug and a laugh. \"I prefer to say I\'m Owen.. and that I\'m in love with a glorious man named Hank.. but yeah. I guess most people would say I\'m gay.\" His eyes light up with humor and he leans against the desk to stare at the picture in Tyrin\'s hands. \"And yeah... I figured out you liked Tex because.. well.. you did that thing, you know? You sorta got all red when you said his name.\" He chuckles. \"I did that when I met Hank. He is a rocket scientist.. believe it or not. Works with the space tech systems organization here on site. And Tex and myself met him in a bar. I figure that is about the time Tex made it known that he was going to hook me up if it killed him.\" He grins. \"It nearly did. He tried to get to the space tech station that\'s along the space walk out at L8? Stupid man... trying to get to Hank. Hank thought he was nuts. Had him arrested. Of course, when I came to pick him up, Hank had to talk to me about him and all, and in the time it took to explain that Tex was really not nuts and he wasn\'t trying to infiltrate into the system, nor was he trying to kill Hank or any other operative out there.. and that he was..\" here Owen flushes from the memory, \"trying to set me up.. it was pretty obvious to..well, everyone but us, that we had hit it off.\" He takes a breath and then takes the photograph from Tyrin and goes to sit down in his chair, before replacing it and turning to smile at the man. \"So yeah, I figured as much. But ..\" and his face falls some. \"He\'s straight.. I mean, he\'s only liked women up until now. If you\'re... Oh Tyr.. yeah.. it sucks. I\'m sorry..\" he rubs his hand over his mouth and then gives the other man a small smile.

\"Oh... Yeah, that\'s cool... I\'m... I\'m happy for you, Owen... Tex is really a good guy...\" Tyrin says softly even as his heart sank... Gods... he\'d do anything... Anything in this universe to feel those arms around him again... If nothing else ever again... If never a kiss... If nothing else, just to feel the warmth of Tex wrapped around him... So much warmer than any blanket could be...

\"Sit..\" and Owen indicates the chair across from him. \"Sit and I\'ll tell you whatever you want to know about Tex. Or.. at least the things he\'d not mind you knowing.\"

Tyrin sighs softly and takes the seat offered, nibbling his bottom lip his eyes threatening to tear... Gods... It hurts... That a man could be so, so good to him and good for him, but will never be anything more than his friend... he should be thankful for that... Really... But he\'s still the stupid boy he\'s always been... Wanting to be loved... Needing it so, so badly...

\"I... I don\'t even know...\" He sighs out quietly, shaking his head... \"Maybe... I just shouldn\'t ask...\"

But...

Owen smiles. \"You know.. he sure likes you. He\'s got a huge amount of respect for you and I\'ve not seen him take to anyone so well after me and Hank.. He\'s not a guy to open up to anyone and he\'s done a heck of a lot in letting you stay with him. And he thinks you\'re one.. oh how did he put it?\" here he grins widely, \"\'one fuck\'m up the ass pilot,\' if I may quote the gentleman in question.\"

\"What? Are... Are you serious?\" Tex? Is he that kind of person? The kind that doesn\'t readily open up to people? He seemed like the out going type... The type to make friends easily... Hell... He has to have women all over him all the time...

\"I... I don\'t understand... He seems... so out going... I thought... He\'d have tons of friends...Has he been hurt a lot?\"

Owen leans forward and picks up a pen, then taps his knee with is and leans back in his chair with a small shake of his beautiful head. \"Tex? Yeah.. he\'s, hmm\"

He rubs his thumb over the pen. \"Well, let me see. He\'s an orphan. Did he tell you that? His mom dropped him off when he was.. oh.. four or five I think it was? She was a druggie. Hopped up on some tech shit called Hyperspeed. It was an electronic chip and uploads into your brain, drove her insane like it did a lot of people before it was forgotten about. His aunt\'s cousin took him in. Dunno why it was. The lady was a real .. excuse me, but a real bitch. So Tex headed out when he was around nine. I met him and he was fifteen, sixteen? He\'s twenty six now. He had picked up Suzanna from a junk mechanics shop. I don\'t know what he did until then..\" his gaze serious. \"He was rich enough at fifteen. So I\'m not asking questions and he\'s not telling. But he was pretty closed mouthed when I met him.\"

Owen laughs then, softly. A surprised laugh. \"He was close mouthed, but you\'d never know it, the way that guy talks. I think I was as surprised as you are, when it finally hit me that he knew everything about me, and I didn\'t know anything about him. Oh I knew little things, like his favorite soda and where he sleeps and what he likes when it comes to his suit. I know plenty about Tex that most folks would say I was his best friend. But I don\'t know any more about his past than that. And somehow.. he\'s always in a good mood. But I grew to see how he hides it all. He\'s a really special person, our Tex. But he\'s not about to show that to anyone.\" He shrugs. \"He\'s got plenty of friends.. you know.. he knows lots of people. You\'ll see if he ever takes you somewhere. He knows everyone, actually. And they\'re from all walks of life. He\'s such a beautiful light and he\'s so fun, so much laughter, you can\'t help but know him. But I don\'t think he\'s been hurt since I met him. Whatever part of his life he keeps his heart in, he\'s held tightly locked up..\"

He looks down and sighs. \"I was eighteen when I met him. It was love at first sight. He was as glorious then as he is now. But more.. tender in a way. I would dream about him night after night. It crushed me when I walked in on him and some woman. She was the.. flavor of the evening. He was wild even then. And I realized it could never be between him and I? But he\'d never have offered me anything anyway. Tyrin.. Tex is a man who walks alone. He\'ll let you in only so far. And he\'ll fool you for years into thinking he\'s offered you everything. But he\'s going to keep all of the important things.. his heart.. his soul.. from you. Its the reason everyone wants him. Men and women.. because if they can have him, then they\'re the one.. the one person who is different, special.. \" he shrugs. \"I dunno if anyone that special exists.\"

Tyrin just sat there... he sat there and listened to every painful word Owen told him... An orphan... Damn... And here... Here Tyrin was just sitting here feeling sorry for himself... Thinking he had it so bad... he still doesn\'t know how bad Tex has had it... But Tyrin listened quietly heart broken at the realization that no... Tex and him would never be... Especially if he didn\'t want to be with someone as beautiful as Owen... Why would he want to be with a scrub like Tyrin?

\"I... see...\"

The words were choked in his throat... It stung immensely... Too badly to be said... he didn\'t want to just accept that! Damn it! Why isn\'t there even an inkling of a chance that he could win those things he won\'t give anyone else? Why do those arms just... feel so warm around him?

\"Has... Has he ever...\" He wanted to debate those fucking words! Has Tex ever held Owen like he\'s held Tyrin? Made a bubble bath for him? If there wasn\'t a chance, why would he even give -that- much? Why would he let Tyrin live with him?

\"Ah, never mind... This is too depressing... Ah, well... It was a nice thought...\"

He\'s defeated here in front of his new comrade, but not in his heart...

Owen nods sadly. \"I\'m sorry, Tyrin.. But I can tell you this. He\'s one hell of a good friend to have. And if... if..\" he stops lamely and shakes his head. \"I left. When I figured it out..\" his voice soft. \"I left for two weeks. Came back and he\'d gone on a drinking binge, almost killed himself from worry. He\'d thought he\'d done something wrong. He thought that..\"

The door opens then and Tex makes his silent way in, his eyes laughing as he takes in the two men. \"Cozy?\"

Owen chuckles. \"Just talking about you. You didn\'t tell Tyrin anything about yourself, you stupid man..\" and the silver haired gentleman grins at his friend.

Tyrin couldn\'t deny it... Tex was a good man and he would go to the depths of hell to make sure the few people he cares about are safe... What he did for him back at the apartment... Gods... How... how could Tyrin ever repay his friend for that?

He only was nodding as Tex suddenly showed back up and he gave a light punch to his arm as he walked past, doing his best to shake his feelings aside... and just let this be a talk between friends...

\"Yeah... real, snug, man...\"

He says as Owen confesses the conversation they were having...

\"Yeah... I... I asked... I should have asked you... but... uh... Like you said, we haven\'t really had time... So...\"

Tex shrugs and drags a chair over to where he can lean back in it and kick his machine boots up on top of the desk. Then at a look from Owen, mutters, \"Sorry..\" and drops them to the floor again, spreading his knees and bringing his hands together before himself. \"Well..\" he looks at Tyrin. \"Not like we\'ve had a hell of a lot of time to talk about shit like that. He\'s had to save my ass, then fend off that bitch Lilith who..\" he adds, \"is not going to come back.. if you see her, remind her I\'ll kill her..\"

Owen blinks. \"Lilith?\" shock as he looks at Tyrin.

\"Fucking bitch tried to rape m\'friend... I don\'t put up with that shit..\" and if there were any sweet kind edges in the soldier they are gone for that moment. \"Shit... I...\" and then he stops, his face red. \"Fucking bitch... can\'t even talk about her without wanting to snap her neck..\"

Owen stares at Tex and then reaches out, touching Tex\'s shoulder. \"Hey man.. ease up, kay?\" He\'s rewarded by Tex\'s meeting his eyes and then watching the lights die. He\'s rarely seen Tex this upset. \"Man.. she musta really done you over, Tyirn..\" he looks over a their new friend.

A little nervous... Tex didn\'t seem upset about it and that made Tyrin more relieved than anything... He sighs and sits back and laughs, shaking his head as they talk about that cunt...

\"Ew, god it was fuckin\' horrible, Owen! The girl came up in my room while I was sleepin\' and shit! I don\'t care if she meant to or not! And then Tex walks in on us right? Rantin\' and shit about keeping it down... I\'m thinking I\'m snoring\' loud and then I find that nasty ass bitch on my dick! So I\'m screaming at her to get off of me and I let her know, quite loudly that I\'m gay... I think that\'s what set tex off the most... She called me a fuckin\' fairy...

\"Yeah.. so not much fucking time to tell him shit..\" Tex doesn\'t mention that they\'ve been dealing with Tyrin\'s past as it is. \"So.. Owen baby tell you about m\'aunt and that shit? He tell you about how we met?\" and he bursts into laughter. \"The stupid shit was trying to space walk I almost knocked into him in m\'suit. That was back when Suzanna was just a cargo suit..\" he grins. \"Had to reel him in and take him into the hangar then give him a bawling out.. shit.. almost killed the stupid jerk..\" and his smile is wide, laughing.

\"Never did do a space walk again.. still can\'t..\" Owen chuckles. \"Scares me witless..\"

Tyrin laughs again and combs through the mess of red hair on his head as the continue the convo about space walking and what not... \"Aaaaah... Space walking is a piece of cake... It\'s a trip if you ain\'t got your bearings, ya know? Hey, so Tex, what did you find out, man? Anything?\"

Tex looks searchingly at Tyrin a moment but seeing as this is discomfort for his friend, shrugs it off and grins. \"Well, hell.. we\'ll have fucking plenty of time .. whatdya think of Hank?\" he grins and then nods to the picture. \"Both of em. He\'s a decent enough fellow.. told he\'s a good kisser too.. erk!\" and he falls back, his chair suddenly tipping back with some help from Owen, and he crashes into the floor and a case of books.

\"Oh... Hank is fuckin\' sweeeeet! He\'s a smooth ride and... I almost beat yer time, buddy...\"

Tyrin gives a sly grin and sits back more comfortably in the chair as Tex talked more about the other Hank, to which he was decently reprimanded... Tyrin laughs softly, covering his mouth like he\'s not supposed to be laughing...

\"Ooooh... Now that\'s definitely gonna leave a mark, man...\"

Laying on the floor laughing Tex waves his hands in the air. \"Dammit! I hate that! Falling and not able to get back up! And this time I\'m not even drunk, dude!\"

Owen leaves him there and leans forward to Tyrin. \"So..as I was saying, I left that two weeks, cause I thought I was in love with that idiot..\" and he jerks his head at Tex who\'s laughing on the floor. \"Came back and couldn\'t find him anywhere..\"

\"You fucking ditched me man!\" comes Tex\'s voice from the floor as he slowly rights himself and his chair then settles back into it, this time straddling it backwards. \"No note.. not a fucking thing. He thinks cause I\'m nice, I\'m the guy for him, ya see? And so he finds out I\'m not interested...\" he blinks. \"You didn\'t tell him how?\"

Owen flushes. \"Well..\"

\"Oh, so it\'s okay to flash my dirty laundry but not yers? Dude! That\'s cowardly, Owen..\" but there\'s no reprimand there and Tex is not making fun when he turns to look at Tyrin. \"See... I met someone before I met Owen... and she died. Suzanna... s\'why m\'ships named that. So I wasn\'t in no fucking mood to be dealing with some guy jumping me, no matter how fucking horny a teenager I was.. and especially not a friend, ya know? So he and I are watching this movie and he like.. jumps me. Fucking jumps me!\"

\"I just kissed him..\" Owen mumbles.

\"Yeah.. whatever.. and he takes off the second after, don\'t let me explain or no shit like that. Just runs out the door. So I figure, give him a day or two. A week later I\'m sure he\'s dead.. or he\'s run out on me..\" his face quiet, the hurt still there, though far more muted by forgiveness. But the memory pains.

Owen nods, not guilty, but yes.. the memory is old and it still has some pain. \"So I came back two weeks later..\"

\"Sixteen days..\" interjects Tex.

\"A little over two weeks.. and find him half dead in a gutter.. \" he shakes his head. \"Stupid guy didn\'t even stop to think that I might have needed more time..\"

\"I was only sixteen then..\" Tex frowns. \"I\'d lost ....\" He hesitates and Owen raises a brow, confusion on his face. \"I\'d lost so many people.. I didn\'t want to lose anyone else..\" Tex\'s voice soft.

Tyrin looks down... \"Oh... DS... Man, I\'m... I don\'t know what to say...\"

And he didn\'t... He\'s never had anyone he loved... He wanted to have someone special like Tex had, but... Losing that someone... That special someone had to be devastating and he could understand Tex\' feeling about it...

\"I\'m sorry..\" Owen states, not able to hide the surprise there. \"You\'ve never said..\"

\"Yeah.. well.. I\'m older now. And it\'s been over ten years.\" Tex gives them both a half grin. \"So tell me BP..\" desperate to change the subject, \"You pass on flying Hank?\" his grin is forced, but it\'s there and it shifts from mask to reality so swiftly one has to wonder if the grin ever was a mask at all.

There was an awkward silence from Tyrin as he continued to listen... Seems Owen is learning new things about Tex too... \"Oh... Yeah... 35 minutes... yeah... Just a few minutes off of you...\"

He nods a little uncomfortably and looks to Owen and then back to Tex, calming himself some, so many thoughts rolling around in his head... \'I\'ll never leave you... I\'ll never let you go... No matter what... It\'s you and me now... Through everything, it\'s you and me... I...\'

He loves Tex... he knows he does... He wants so badly to deny it so it won\'t hurt so badly... He wants the feeling to pass because he\'s supposed to believe he\'ll never be able to break past all those defenses... Never truly get inside Tex... Never truly be -close- to him... But he won\'t run away... He\'ll deal with his feelings... He\'ll cry by himself... He\'ll cling to his pillows at night and cry himself to sleep, but he\'ll deal with the fact...

\"What time is it? Did you want to go out to the moon tonight or... Maybe we can all go out for some drinks? I\'ll treat... It\'s my first real day here, so I think we should celebrate new friendships and new allies...\"

Tex given an out when Owen opens his mouth, wanting to continue the subject of Tex\'s story, press it. \"Not yer parents?\"

Tex laughs. \"Shit, Owen.. we\'re talkin\' about booze now. We ain\'t got room fer depressing shit like that.. \"

\"Yeah, man... Let it go...\" Tyrin says softly... he didn\'t lose his parents... he left them... They were the old timers... The ones who believed in the fire and brimstone... It got too hot for Tyrin who had this strangeness inside of him... This.. Abnormal personality... He didn\'t want to be reminded of how wrong he was... How much of a sinner he was... But if he were to look back... Leaving wasn\'t the best of things to do... But he had to learn on his own... But gods did it hurt... How badly it hurt.. He felt so empty for a long time and further more, he still does feel that emptiness... He feels better with it now... Emptiness doesn\'t hurt him... Not the way people have...

Tex grins. \"Let\'s go out. I know I could take some serious down time. They\'re down for a good week or so, so we can be more ready. Might have to be, those shit heads have a fucking lot of fire power. Don\'t wanna get Hank scratched..\" and he winks at Owen. \"Though I\'ve heard the real Hanks likes to be scratched..\"

Owen turns bright red and standing, decides the change in subject is a good thing. \"You guys get changed.. I\'ll meet you out front..\" and he\'s gone more swiftly than they can time.

Tyrin\'s thoughts are cut short by Tex\' smart assed comments and Tyrin can\'t help but raise a brow at Owen, who he could tell was turning redder than a cherry...

\"Kinky ain\'tcha man?\" He teases softly before watching him walk out the door, leaving him with his roommate... alone again...

\"Yeah... I was actually feeling shitty about it too...\" He says softly...

((Next:: Going dancing and drinking with Tex proves to be almost more adventure than Tyrin can handle.))