13, 14, and any other ones that you want to answer but haven’t been asked yet for the book questions!
13. What were your least favorite books of the year?
I think we're gonna have similar answers lol but Secret History... the Secret History we wrote during book club was so good. The premise had so much promise. I just hated all the characters, and nothing happened, and WE HAVE RAVENS IN CALIFORNIA DONNA
14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?
I'm trying to finish the Southern Reach Trilogy (I've got like 80 more pages in Authority) and my library loan for Chain Gang All-Stars expires in 8 days, so hopefully that too! But I don't think that's gonna happen lol.
Also the most recent Murderbot book if I can squeeze it in!
25. things you said in front of other people, from this prompt list here
1.4k words. references some stuff from this fic here
Every damn gun in the compound was pointed at Raiden and Benny.
Benny didn’t even blink, the gangster’s shirt collar still balled up in her fists. He struggled against her iron grip, but her arms barely strained against the movement.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Halin was across the room, considering which bourbon to choose from the stocked bar. Eventually she settled on a choice, pouring a glass and raising it to her lips. “Oh, how rude of me. Raiden? Did you want a glass?”
Raiden shrugged and made his way over, delicately pointing the tip of one of the energy rifles away from him. “Sure, Captain. Is it any good?”
Halin pondered the glass as Raiden poured one for himself. “Cheap,” she finally concluded, taking another drink. “Perfect for you.”
Before Raiden could quip back, the man in the suit laughed.
Halin rolled her eyes and downed the glass. “What?”
“What is this spectacle supposed to accomplish, Captain Aino?” The man in the suit leaned forward in his chair, a wolfish grin splitting his face. “Did you come here to die?”
Actually, the Actium and her crew were here to make a deal with this very man. Their next mark, a shipment of medical supplies, was due in a few days in the city. It was only polite to get permission before running a job on someone else’s turf. However, negotiations could be long and tiresome, and as patient as Captain Aino was, she was eager to speed them up.
The last time Halin had been surprised was when she found a half-dead Themi sitting in her cockpit. Now that Raiden had been chewed out for his creative decision making and Benny was officially a member of the crew, there was no way she would be caught off guard again.
They had all been disarmed at the door, but there was no way Benny could truly be disarmed short of flaying her. Most importantly, the gangs’ ignorance and the size of her own Themi mythology was a shield in itself. Should that fail, Millie was masquerading as one of gang members, just another one in the sea of guns pointed at Benny. If things went south (as they always seemed to, these days), Millie would have no trouble cutting down some of the opposition.
As entertaining as that sounded, Raiden really hoped it didn’t come to that.
Halin just shrugged, wearing her mask of indifference easily. “I came here to show you what she’s capable of. It’s not my fault your idiot lieutenant decided to volunteer as an example.” The man in the suit’s smile dropped a fraction.
Raiden jumped at the opening. “I’m not sure how much you know about the Themi, sir.” He could practically feel Millie rolling her eyes somewhere in the crowd. “But she’s a human weapon, if you could even call her human.” His eyes darted to Benny’s face before he could stop them. If she cared about his assessment she didn’t show it, just stood inhumanely still as she always did. Not that he cared what she thought. He made his way through the armed crowd again, careful to keep his movement light and casual. “A perfect hybrid of human and alien. The Themi are creatures of their word. As it stands, she’s bound by oath to do anything and everything the captain commands.” Raiden circled Benny like a vulture, reaching out to brush her unruly curls out of her stoic face. “Unarmed, she’s easily worth ten of your men. Armored, thirty.”
Benny didn’t move, save for shooting him an unimpressed glance. Ok, maybe he was playing it up a bit. But they didn’t need to know that.
He gestured to her again, continuing his circle. “She’s fierce. Animal. A loyal dog at the Captain’s command. And potentially, by extension, yours.”
“I was going to ask if you wanted to send some of your people along to see how she performs on a job, but we can give a demonstration now, if you’d like.” Halin had Raiden’s bourbon in her hands. Ass. He hadn’t had a chance to drink any yet. “Benny?”
On cue, the light pooled behind Benny’s eyes until her pupils disappeared, leaving nothing but a white glow from her sockets, fully visible to everyone now that her hair was out of her face. She leaned forward towards the man still stuck in her grasp and opened her mouth in a feral snarl, tiny bolts of electricity dancing around her teeth. A gasp rippled through the crowd. She might be totally incapable of lying, but she was playing the part of the inhuman butcher well.
For the first time, that thought made Raiden uncomfortable.
Halin leaned back against the bar, face completely impassive. “If I give the word, she’ll kill him with a touch. Or she’ll let him go. Up to you.”
The man in the suit was on his feet now, absolutely enraptured with the sparks dancing across Benny’s skin. Raiden clenched his jaw. Sure, he was selling her like prized cattle, but the man didn’t have to look at her as if she really was.
“About this… partnership,” the man in the suit started, still keeping a wary eye on Benny as he turned to Halin. “I would like to hear more.”
-
Benny had been completely silent ever since they got back to the Actium.
The partnership was a success, and the man in the suit had promised to help with the job. In return, Benny and Halin would have to do something for him, but if Benny truly objected, Halin would have simply killed him regardless of the consequences. Now, everyone was celebrating the recent turn in luck in the cargo hold except for Millie, who was busy moping because she hadn’t got to shoot anything.
“Oh, relax,” Amara chided, pouring Millie a glass from a familiar looking bottle of booze. “The way Halin is running us, I’m sure you’ll get a chance soon.” Millie just mumbled something into her glass as Amara swatted her on the shoulder.
Raiden’s chuckled died as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Benny slipped out of the room. Without a second thought, he followed her out.
He found her in the lab, watching one of Erin’s many alien insects clamber around its inclosure. “Halin and I are going back to the compound tomorrow,” she started before Raiden had the chance to announce himself. “I will be doing some more demonstrations with the spear and armor.”
Raiden stood by her side, watching her watch the bug. “Ben…”
She ignored him. “I do not trust him, but Halin says he has broader connections to-”
“I’m sorry. About what I said. It’s not true,” he blurted. Benny blinked in surprise. Raiden did, too, unsure of where the words were coming from, but they kept tumbling out. “It was all an act. You’re not like that.” He went to reach for her hand, then stopped. Her fingers were still bandaged. Amara had said it would take six months before her nails would fully grow back. If Benny hadn’t already killed the man who did this to her, Raiden would have tracked him down and done it himself.
Though not too long ago maybe he would have been the one in that cell.
She breathed out a mirthless laugh, hair bouncing as she shook her head. “Oh, but I am, Raiden. As all Themi are.” She rested a hand on his arm. The shiver that ran down his back had nothing to do with her electricity. “We were all forged into weapons, nothing more. Perhaps it is for the best. Bad things happen when we try to change what we are.” Before Raiden could ask what she meant, she moved her hand to pat his back. “But I appreciate your apology. Thank you.”
Raiden wanted to say something profound, something quotable that they could giggle about in the future, that they could look back on and reference as a turning point in their relationship. In a way, this conversation was a milestone: Raiden couldn’t think of any other time they had been so genuine with one another. But for the first time in his life Raiden was at a loss for words. Instead of poisoning the moment, he tentatively wrapped one arm around Benny and turned to stare at the iridescent beetle.
Despite his better judgement, he broke out in a smile as Benny leaned into him.
