Aesir: Prologue

She was beautiful. That was the only word that sprang to mind when he looked at the Firefly. Beautiful. Miko turned to the, though he hated to admit it, ever-so-slightly-taller man at his side. “What do you think?” He made no effort to hide the fact that it made no difference what his husband thought. The pleading look in his eyes was simply a formality, a routine that they both frequently went through to convince the other that they had a choice. Hamish kept on looking at the transport, the barely detectable hint of a smile beginning to pull at the corners of his mouth. He mumbled something to himself that Miko couldn’t quite make out. The general tone sounded positive, though. “All her papers in order?” Hamish still didn’t turn to face him, but Miko knew that the little transport had passed the test. “Yup. Checked ‘em all twice ‘n then ran her up on the Cortex just to be sure.” Hamish at last turned to face him, and Miko quickly noted the lines on the man’s forehead where the eyebrows were raised. He quickly explained himself before he got one of Hamish’s good-natured, but irritating scoldings. “Look, I know that were in the core, but Firefly’s have a reputation for being used by... disreputable folk. I just wanted to make sure this old girl didn’t have too shady a history.” Miko handed Hamish a clipboard and loaded up the file he’d compiled earlier that week. He’d hitched a ride to Ariel on his cousin’s cargo-hauler a month before, helping process the various foodstuffs her crew had picked up (along with him) on Greenleaf. He and Hamish had been planning on getting a ship of their own for years, and the cut from their last transport job (some real high-grade Alliance medical goods) finally meant they could hand in their notice and head back home for a short spell, before they started to put the wheels in motion. They knew early on that they wanted everything to be as legit as they could make it. While working on the Takashi they’d had their fair share of shady dealings. Unlike some they knew they’d been pretty lucky for the most part. Now they were striking out on their own, they didn’t see any real need to tempt fate. The Core worlds seemed like the best place to find a ship, and a job. At least at first, anyway. So, Miko headed to Ariel to find the pair a ship, hitching a ride with his cousin to save on transport costs. Hamish hitched a lift on the next run, a month later. Miko returned to the here and now, and shouted to where Hamish was running his hand along the boat’s hull. “So, you like her then? Hamish pulled his hand into his coat pocket and started to walk towards him, trailing his boots through the mud that lay between them. A few moments later, he was facing Miko, gripping his shoulders in his surprisingly soft, bear-like hands, before drawing him into a hug. Hamish whispered, almost conspiratorially, into Miko’s ear. “She’s perfect, hon.” Miko drew back, an inane grin plastered across his face, “You mean it? Really?” Hamish guffawed as he draped an arm over the shorter man’s shoulders, leading him towards the open hatch on the ship. “No need to act so surprised, babe.” He scratched his head with his free hand, “You know way more about boats than I ever claimed to-” Miko barely suppressed a laugh at that. Hamish frowned, pretending to ignore his lover’s brief giggle, and continued. “...than I ever claimed to. But I did always have a soft spot for the bugs. They’re kinda...” He looked embarrassed. Miko thought he looked the way he did when his was about to get all gushy. “Kinda what?” Miko urged. They stopped at the foot of the access ramp, and Hamish let go, turned his head and muttered something that Miko couldn’t quite make out. He gave Hamish a playful shove. “I didn’t quite hear that, Hamish.” “Kinna romannic.” “Helps if you annunciate, dear.” “It’s kinda’ romantic, is all.” Hamish squirmed, “Satisfied now? Or do you want me to carry you over the threshold?” Miko smirked, “Now there’s an idea...” He would have said more, were it not for the fact that he was suddenly hoisted up into Hamish’s arms. Caught off-guard, he managed to get a short, stifled ‘huh’ out of his mouth, before Hamish started walking up the ramp. “What can I say Miko.” Hamish’s eyes were smiling, “I’m a traditionalist.” Shiny.