Piano Black

"Ship's broken again."

The moment you hear that voice echo through the hangar bay, you sigh, seeing that long, blonde ponytail poking out from underneath the engine compartment.

"Again? Thought you fixed it."

Xiaoting slides back out from beneath the hull, letting out an annoyed little huff. "So did I—it's broken in a different way. Piece of fucking shit," she says, tossing the wrench in her hand aside onto a pile of others, all scattered around. Grabbing a rag, she uses it to clean some grease and grime off of her hands.

"My ship is a piece of shit now, huh?"

Xiaoting shoots you a look. "Your ship? What happened to our ship?Last I checked, we were both stuck with it. Bought it together, didn't we?"

You roll your eyes and laugh, trying to fight the temptation to kick this old heap of trash—because well, that might just ruin the damn thing for good.

"Bought an overpriced paperweight is what we did. Worst mistake of my life. Our life," you quickly correct. "Why can't we have a ship that's functional for once?"

"Because that would require, what's that thing called? You know the one, the thing the whole world runs on it—oh yeah, money, love," Xiaoting adds with a short-tempered groan. Meanwhile, you let the frustration build and kick the side of it as hard as you can, regretting it in an instant, pain shooting up your leg.

"Mother—fuck."

Xiaoting can't fight the laughter, seeing the pained look on your face."Easy there, tiger. You're going to end up destroying yourself before you destroy this ship."

"At least you can fix me. Just scrap this thing into the incinerator, Ting. Good riddance," you spit, taking a seat on the edge of the cargo ramp so you can soothe your aching foot.

"As tempted as I am, that'll only give us more problems. We already barely have enough to fuel this dumb thing," Xiaoting says as she slides back under it, hopefully for the last time today.

You circle the perimeter of the ship and inspect it a little closer. The paint is chipped. Half the buttons in the cockpit throw a fit every single time they're pressed. The medbay has a depressing lack of medical care in it. One of the engines dies sporadically anytime you reach a certain altitude, the autopilot is anything but—and there's a bullet hole lodged in the left wing that might ultimately end up sending this death trap plummeting to the ground someday.

It's barely holding together.

You're not far from that either. Xiaoting, for the most part, seems to be the only thing keeping the two of you sane, always one to see the sunshine through all the dark clouds. It's an endearing quality about her, for sure, one that you wish you could borrow.

Without her, you're helpless and lost—and not just because she's one of the best pilots the galaxy has to offer, nor because she's far better with a wrench than you could ever hope to be. But you get lost in these thoughts and take a seat on a nearby crate that serves as a makeshift couch of sorts. There's a monitor nearby, flickering of course, and you lean over to give it a good whack on the side until it miraculously stabilizes.

A notification suddenly flashes across the screen, catching your eye immediately.

Another bounty.

WANTED: Jeon Heejin

RESIDING: Kepler-43 system, Artemis Colony

WARRANT: Criminal acts, theft of classified corporate technology, sabotage, and disappearance.

REWARD: ￦2,500,000 Woolongs

You sit and read it for a couple of moments, as it starts to become a sort of bitter joke. Over two million Woolongs. And now it's bright enough to grab Xiaoting's eye as well, distracting her from her repair work. She quickly emerges and dusts her coveralls off, approaching the terminal as you move aside to make room.

Xiaoting stares at the screen as if she can't believe what she's seeing.

"Woah. Big money for this one. Two and a half mil—for her?" Xiaoting turns to you as if needing some kind of confirmation.

"We're not taking it."

You look back at the screen. So does Xiaoting.

"We kind of have to."

The ship needs repairs. The fuel gauge is constantly hovering on the verge of empty. Your last job barely covered the expenses, and you might go crazy if you have to live another week on nothing but instant noodles. There's no doubt about it, this is a life-changing opportunity if there ever was one. But it's also dangerous. Too dangerous.

"Do we, Ting?"

"We're out of money," Xiaoting reminds, using a rag to wipe more of the excess grease from her hands.

"We were already out of money."

"Which is why we took the last one, remember?"

"Yeah, the one that nearly got us both shot. That nearly made us lose the ship."

Xiaoting sighs, running a thumb over the scar across your arm. "Correction. It nearly killed you, because you wanted to play the hero."

You just look at her and smile. "Someone had to."

Shaking her head, Xiaoting looks back at the screen, studying it. "We're taking this. Not arguing anymore. We can do this, easy-peasy. And with this money, we can actually afford some half-way decent meals and fuel."

She's far too decisive about it. You want to argue. To keep up that defense, but ultimately, your options are limited. You'll make up some excuse that this is too dangerous, and you're just protecting her, but the truth is crystal clear. Xiaoting can take care of herself. She's just as good with a weapon as with a wrench, and she's smart. Much smarter than you—at least when it comes to ships.

"Come on, don't look at me like that," Xiaoting says and tilts your chin up towards her, staring you down. "What other choice do we have? Not exactly swimming in jobs, are we?"

Again, she's right. Like usual.

"No, we're not," you concede, still hesitant. "You're right."

"I always am." Xiaoting smiles as she leans over to plant a kiss on your lips, happy to see you more willing. "It'll be fine. Because I'm going with you. And I'll protect you."

You can't help but laugh. It's somehow the sweetest thing you could ask for. The girl who you're supposed to be looking out for, is doing the complete opposite.

"Ting, you're barely five-foot-something with heels on. And yet, I trust you with my life more than I do myself."

Xiaoting slips right into a devilish little smile as she wraps her arms around your neck. "As you should—if you think about it, it's me keeping us together," Xiaoting says, and you tilt your head, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, is it?"