“Well if you get tired of your scheduled lay, I’ll be at the Red Fox.”
Vex flipped off the morphing engineer, her humanoid form stretching out from the rope as she jeered up at him and headed into the city. He’d spent the better part of the morning dealing with the shit from last night- a drunken brawl was allowed on occasion but always had repercussions. Vex personally found the fighting necessary, especially during a storm. Slapping a bunch of pent-up sailors in a single room with minimal alcohol and a tossing ship was the perfect way to shake up some tension. It didn’t help that he knew the real cause of the brawl and he wasn’t about to throw his personal mechanic under the bus.
Deiter had ordered nine lashes each, though Vex knew it wouldn't even phase the Morfaereal. She’d put on an act for appearances and possibly Sari’s sake, who’d taken the punishment with a solemn sort of dignity that he respected. He turned from the railing and eyed the pissed-off redhead standing with the assembled skeleton crew, Sari’s defeated and hunched posture signaling her discomfort. She’d taken the beating like a champ but had been pissed when she’d been ordered to stay behind on ship. Something about port plans… he’d have to remind Zae that they couldn’t keep picking on the same crew members, even if Sari were loud and easy to target. On cue, she looked up at Vex with a scowl, to which he tossed her a casual smirk and salute before quickly exiting for the ladder, glad his plans hadn't been canceled.
Zanzibar meant Tamsyn. The old floating city was a hub for ships and crew members seeking work- Vex had spent his years before joining the Regulus in and out of similar ports like this. Frequent visits and scheduled stops meant familiarity, familiarity meant he got to know people, and some of those people he’d actually started to miss. Those individuals started accumulating over his travels to the point that he rarely had to find a place to stay in port, welcome in someone's bed in most major cities. It wasn’t like he’d ever promised anyone anything and they knew him well enough not to ask, but it was nice to be off a ship with someone he enjoyed that didn’t stink of space and sweat and Wes’s cooking.
Tamsyn in particular had struck a chord with him, though he'd never let the draoi know. He'd met them on Zanzibar, Vex two bottles deep of whatever alcohol he'd scrounged up that night and Tamsyn perched on a stool like he owned the place. They were beautiful in that ethereal sort of way that seemed to be built into their plant-loving species and had wanted nothing to do with a piss-drunk sailor stuck in port. Flirting with the fuel of booze only got him steely-eyed glares, so Vex had used his favorite cyborg mod and flushed the entirety of the alcohol out of his system. He wasn't sure if impressed was the right word, but he'd at least intrigued Tamsyn enough to allow them to share a shitty bowl of nuts- and later a bed. Since then Vex had made sure to show up on Zanzibar every few months, even if it was only for a night.
The city was a dense cultural hub, influenced by the trading of crew and goods between ships. Most of the buildings had a sense of similarity, an original aesthetic from before the city had grown to what it was now. But that was before it had taken flight and changed into this menagerie of species and imports. Tamysn home was located beyond the most populated part of the city, where the buildings began to give way to the exotic flora that had once inhabited the mainland. Large growths of trees more similar to feathers draped their roots over cobblestone and grew into the sides of the buildings, making it one of the more suburban parts of town. When he’d asked Tamsyn why they’d settled so far out, he’d gotten some snide remark about sailors and left it at that.
Tamsyn had their own business that they ran out of their home that allowed them to flex their schedule, so when they received a message from Vex that he was soon to arrive at port they were giddy with anticipation. Vex had a charm that made one-night encounters leave an impression that could last innumerable voyages. Plus his journeys took him to the far ends of the galaxies often returning with seedlings or cuttings of rarer plants that Tamsyn could nurture.
Their home seemed to be overgrown with plants. There were some in incubators, others under lights but many just lived freely crawling up the walls and across the ceilings. It made it chaotic at first glance but otherwise the home was very tidy. Shoving some of their more hazardous tools of their trade into storage, they pulled out a bottle of some finer spirits cleaning it off for their soon-to-arrive guest just as they heard a knock at the door.
Tamsyn set down the bottle, grabbing a couple glasses and pausing in the mirror to give themselves a once over. Unbuttoning their blouse a bit so that when they leaned forward you could see the smooth chiseled lines of their abs, they smoothed a hand over their long silver locks giving themselves a smile. It would be a fun night, it always was with Vex.
“Hey there,” Tamsyn smiled as they opened the door, their eyes low as they took in Vex all at once.
Vex couldn’t control the grin that spread across his face as soon as Tamsyn opened the door, the sharp and striking features of the draoi a sharp contrast to the quaint warmth radiating from their home. The cyborg pulled out a small bundle from his back pocket and held them in the shade of the doorway, the phosphorescent glow of the seeds only visible in the casted dark. His grin grew at Tamsyn’s hungry expression, pulling the package away just as they reached for it.
“I’m hurt” Vex murmured and crowded them further in the doorway, “You seem more excited about the seeds than me. It’s been months Tam, com’ere” Vex reached for the other being and tugged them against him, his mouth hungry for the others.
“How dare you,” Tamsyn laughed as Vex’s lips crashed against theirs, the two wrapping their arms around one another. It never felt like much time passed between their visits, they supposed that was part of the Vex effect. “You know in my world, people have been sentenced to punishments far worse than death for keeping a plant from it’s draoi.”
Vex laughed into the kiss, a huff of breath between them as he pushed further. The door had opened wider, no longer held in place by Tamsyns hand and easy to move them inside. He tossed the seeds on a nearby foliage-filled table, hands quickly going back to wandering under the loose silken shirt and smooth skin. “The seeds and I have a deal, you get them after I get a proper greeting” he murmured in between kisses, their movements seamless against one another. Vex knew the small cottage fairly well, though he did trip over a few new pots in their frantic push towards the bedroom.
There was little room for talk after that.
Later that night Tamsyn laid in the bed with only the corner of the sheet pulled over their midsection preserving any modesty. Resting their head against Vex’s hardened chest, their billowing silver locks providing some cushion from the steel form. The room was heavy with their musk, Tamsyn hazy in the lingering effects of euphoria.
“You never cease to amaze me.” Tamsyn laughed, their fingers brushing along Vex’s metal jawline.
The cyborg smiled slowly, opening his eyes lazily to look down at his partner. The bedroom was illuminated only by the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows covering one wall, coating them both in a blue-white glow that made everything seem a little more unreal. He ran a hand through Tamsyn’s long hair, careful not to snag his metal joints on anything as he reveled in the softness even his synthetic nerves could pick up, “You just like me for my parts” Vex laughed, pulling the other in for a languid kiss, “The back is new by the way- and the spine and ribs'', He turned slightly to show off the elaborate segmented metal running up the center off his back like an exposed spinal cord, its edges molded to his human shoulder muscle perfectly.
Tamsyn's fingers ran delicately up the mechanics and Vex had to repress a shudder at the sensation, the scar tissue running along either side of the fairly new addition still sensitive, “I took a canon blast a little too close, but I’d been meaning’ to make this upgrade for a while anyway, even if it cost an arm and a leg- metaphorically.” Vex laughed at Tamsyns glance of worry at his joke, the other knowing his proclivity to overspend on whatever upgrades he wanted, "I already figured out the payment plan, don't think about it too much". This was a lie of course, but he didn't want to waste their time thinking about it.
Vex turned back around, not giving Tamsyn any more time to dissect the new addition, and rolled them so he was on top again, “The upgrades how I was finally able to do that thing when I lifted you this time, the one that made you make that noise-”
“And here I was thinking I’d just forgotten how strong you are.” Tamsyn chuckled, remembering the benefit of having a literal machine in his bed. Vex’s stamina was unmatched.
Tamsyn glanced down between them suggestively, “You’re not wasting a single moment, huh?” they teased - in no way complaining.
“Not when I have one day in port and who knows how long till I’m back. Hopefully you didn’t have plans tomorrow” Vex grinned and swooped down to initiate another round. Tamsyn wasn’t sure how much longer they’d be able to last but they were more than eager to find out, as many times as it took.