& South is not Down

The monitor at the front desk chimed just as Rita, who’d been unusually quiet piped up, “Oh! Mista Steel! Company is coming!” "Take your coat off, stay a while," Juno murmured, flicking his eye to the monitor on the desk. "I'm good," Alessandra's lip curled in distaste and Juno fought down the instinctive need to come to the crappy motel's defense. Sure it was faded and out of style and dim and dingy, but it was his, damn it. It was clean, and it was the last safe place left in the whole fucking galaxy as far as he was concerned. "If I wanted -" "Take your god damned coat off and throw it over your arm," he barked, standing up to his full height and putting his hands on his hips. The bell over the door sounded like a storm warning. Juno didn’t look. "Look, do I want to leave? Of course I do. But I don't. Because we don't have the coverage! You didn't clear your time off with me, Missy, now get your ass back in that kitchen and sweat in the jello for all I care, or good luck finding yourself another job." "Go to hell," Alessandra spat, never one to be slow on the uptake. She swept past him into the back, and for his sake, Juno hoped he could get rid of the potential new customer before she had time to start poking around and find something she shouldn't. Projecting as much Hyperion ‘what do you want and make it snappy,’ as he could into his voice, Juno didn’t bother to look up as he slipped back behind the front desk and prattled off the usual spiel. “Hello traveler, welcome to the Penumbra, the finest hotel/motel this side of nowhere. Show me your token, set your price limit and we’ll start talking rooms.” Key. Key. Key. Damn it all, where did R- “Prices? I’m terribly sorry, I know this is my first time patroning the establishment, but I’ve already purchased the token.” Said token was pushed across the front desk til it was just about under his nose. J-17, huh? “Purchased?” Juno whistled low, a grin beginning to creep onto his face even through the haze of annoyance that someone ‘tidying’ his space always inspired. “Damn, who’d you piss off, Buddy or Vespa?” He could have told the guy that token’s weren’t required to be handed in until checkout, but he was already annoyed this morning and had no qualms taking it out on whatever poor sod the captain sent his way. So, he pocketed the chip and hazarded a glance up. “Excuse me?” Oh! Wow. It wasn’t professional to whistle at guests. Not even ones as good looking as this guy. He was…sharp. It was the first word that came to Juno’s mind and lingered there. Sharp jaw, sharp smile, sharp suit. “The token,” he said slowly, tongue feeling thick in his mouth, “only means you’re able to rent a room here. If they made you pay for the token too, you must have pissed them off. My money’s on Vespa.” “Ah.” The man nodded, almost to himself. “That would be why the smile. And the laughter.” “Cackle, you can call it what it is.” Juno shrugged. “I would never.” The man held out his hand to shake. “Rex Glass.” “Juno Steel."

“You haven’t texted me, or called me, or sent any snapchats for two days so I thought you might be dead.” Anyone else would have perhaps tried to walk back that statement. Make it a little less what some other people might call ‘dramatic’ or ‘needy.’ “Oh shit, good call,” Wei Ying said, blinking his astonishment. Two days was a ridiculous amount of time to have not spoken to Wen Ning. Had he really been here for two days already? Granted, they hadn’t left the bed for at least one of those days except to get food or use the bathroom, but – breakfast at the new place that just opened up, then to the library for research, then to the market, then a walk down the road, then back to Lan Zhan’s where they’d barely made it through the door before ripping each others clothes off.  Had they cleaned the mess he left on the wall in the front entrance way? Oh gods he hoped so. Their delivery drivers didn’t deserve to be greeted with sex smell.  Of course, Lan Zhan had been answering the door. So dollars to donuts the delivery guy got tipped 20% minimum because there was no question Lan Zhan looked like he’d spent the last 24 hours fucking like he was the last man on Earth. “You’re not dead,” Wen Ning said. “I’m so super not dead.” He didn't say 'I'm fine, I've just been getting railed into the mattress and against the wall and in the shower and over the kitchen counter for the last two days!' Out of respect for Lan Zhan and Wen Ning's delicate sensibilities. They didn't have the same delicate sensibilities, but they had them nonetheless and Wei Ying liked to think he's kind like that.