Though the engine was shielded to prevent leaking of heat and sound and radiation from inside, the shields weren’t great. They kept out the radiation, sort of kept out the heat, and only partially kept out the sound. The Humility usually had a constant hum in the background that Sway had long grown used to hearing.
Honestly, he missed it. He hated the silence. Without something to break it, he felt like he could hear the screams of the past echoing forward in time to try to snatch him back. The overwhelming darkness in his mind threatened to swallow him whole. He couldn’t drown it out. He didn’t have enough work to distract him from it. The creeping, drowning darkness he couldn’t control would overcome him without something to keep it at bay.
He was a good person. A non-violent person. He kept repeating that mantra to himself. The noise was his only barrier to the bad thoughts.
Maybe that was why he was wandering aimlessly around now. The sound of his footsteps, at least, broke the silence a little.
It wasn’t enough. Not anymore though. Not afterhervoice.
The ship lights were all on, much brighter than usual thanks to the power flowing in from their connection to Hir-Fallow. It was a lot more than their engine could usually output, than they would ever try to demand it output for anything save defenses. It only served to emphasize how old and busted the inside of the Humility really was.
This ship was old. Even when they bought it, it hadn’t been in good shape. It had been worse, actually. The state it was in now included all their improvements. Keeping it in a state fit to fly and not kill them in the process was a constant battle. But one they had been winning without a lot of problems in recent years.
But that was why they had come to Hir-Fallow. They were spending a lot of credz here to upgrade all the most important systems. Which meant that the engine noise might stop vibrating through the entire ship for good. He hoped not. This silence was toovektingloud.
The others had already gone ahead to enjoy the amenities of the station. Alred was safely ensconced in his core, away from any possible scanners. Sway was completely alone as he made his way down the main lift, through the hall, and out into main stowage.
Practically staggering, like a dying man pushing towards survival, to find that voice.
He couldn’t remember what she said, or what he might have muttered in return. It was all nonsense to him. Yet, somehow, at the same time, he was absolutely obsessed with every sweeping vowel, every hard consonant, even the sound of her breath between sentences. It was a melody so breathtakingly beautiful,it was all he could focus on even as the words themselves lost their meaning.
He had to hear it again. He had to hear her again. She was coming here, and he had to meet her. The silence in the wake of her voice seemed louder than it ever had before. He needed to hear her speaking. To drive out the haunting screams of his past. To soothe the disquiet of whatever fractured remains were left of his soul.
The large, main storage room was split into two levels, with the second, upper level being much smaller, meant for overflow cargo. In the wider, main storage down below were three doors along one wall that led into the smaller storage rooms.
All three of those doors were wide open. Excluding the ones going into the private rooms, every door on the ship had been unlocked and left opened so they were easily accessible. Fresh air, the first Sway had smelled in a while, was sweeping in from the station. It wasn’t even really fresh air, just air that didn’t come from their cheap air filtration system. Just another thing they were getting upgraded today.
Still, it was like a fragrant bouquet drawing him forward towards that voice.
He hopped down the ladder stairs from the second level to the first, only stepping on one of the steps, before he hit the bottom. The ladder was dented on the side, the bottom coming up off the ground now. Maybe they should get that fixed. Not necessarily because it was unusable, but because the females might hurt themselves.
Sway was staring at the ladder, contemplating if it would fit into the budget, when he heard the click of heeled footsteps coming from behind him.
His heart skipped a beat.
That must be the Uver Prime representative, coming for the inspection.
That voice.
When she first spoke, he felt all his feathers standing on end. His crest had tried to rise! Sway couldn’t even remember the last time his crest had risen. The sound was so sweet and melodic, it was like she was singing even as she spoke. He’d never experienced such a thing.
Sway’s species, the farasie, were a musical species. Song and dance were very important in his culture. He knew that, even if he didn’t have the necessary experience to appreciate it. His native tongue was, in fact, whistled, not spoken. Speaking took a great deal more effort for him than others because his tongue simply wasn’t able to comfortably move to make the sounds. He could, of course, but it had taken a lot of practice to get proficient.
Spoken words and voices often sounded harsh on his ears. Most were outright unpleasant. Rok and Vytln, his crewmates, in particular were very hard to listen to. It wasn’t painful or anything, just ugly, but he had come to expect that with the spoken word. He was used to it. It was normal now.
So, why did this female’s voice sound so lovely? So sweet? It was like she had been singing to him, even though she definitely was not. He needed to see her. He needed a face to attach the voice to.
He turned, sure he was ready for whoever might be coming his way.
He was not.
The female walking up the ramp into the main storage bay was absolutely lovely. So beautiful, it was hypnotizing to watch the sway of her hips with each step. The smooth tilt of her waist, the graceful sweep of her long legs, the way her hair swished with each step, all so graceful and elegant. She was music in motion. The sweetest rhythm was that of her footsteps.
And, to his absolute surprise, she was human.
Sway knew humans well now. His two human crewmates were objectively beautiful. Their voices were pleasant on the ears, their forms were attractive, they even smelled nice. But that was to be expected from the universe’ most sensual species.
But neither of his crewmates were likethis.
