Never have I ever

“Never have I ever… been kicked out from Sunshine.” Keith leaned back in his seat next to Daleen, grinning smugly at Felicia. Alcohol wasn’t allowed onboard, even for off duty use, but the crew used to play the ‘Never have I ever’-game anyway. Tonight they used a pack of ‘fruities’, dried fruit snacks as a replacement for the shots.

Felicia peered back at Ketih, and his grin faded somewhat as she continued not taking a fruity. “Never at Sunshine, no,” she said, a smirk spreading on her face.

Sunshine in a Bottle was one of the bigger bars in the less fancy quarters in Sol’s Ward. Haylen had been there a few times, and now he picked up something that might have been a piece of apple once, putting it in his mouth. He hadn’t exactly been thrilled to join this game when they went off duty and Felicia asked him to, but he had nothing else to do really, and, well. Sometimes you had to practise them social skills too, right.

Xander looked at him curiously.

“How did you manage that?” he asked.

“Headbutted a Masked Dragon.”

Daleen rolled her eyes. Keith chuckled.

“Why would you headbutt a Masked Dragon?” asked Felicia, frowning.

It was a good question. In the shadier parts of society there were bound to be gangs of different sorts. The Masked Dragons were a bunch of youngsters who wore hard leather mask with steel coatings shaped as dragon faces. Well. Not masks per se; they were covering forehead and sides of the face, since most public places wouldn’t let you in if your face was covered.

Whereas some gangs like them took on contracts and worked more or less like a proper business organisation, Masked Dragons’ cause of existence was a bit more unclear.

“He was pickin’ a fight, my pals were holdin’ me back so I couldn’t punch’im.”

“You never came off as a brawler,” Keith pointed out. “Except when it comes to mech troopers.”

“I have my moments,” Haylen mumbled, tracing a crack on the table surface with his fingertip. This was the part of the game he disliked most, being open target for all kinds of questions.

“Is that how you got that scar on your forehead?” Xander asked.

Haylen looked up at him, a little surprised. It wasn’t a big scar, and close to the hairline so it wasn’t very noticeable either. “Yeah. I bled more than his nose…”

Xander smiled, but there was a glimpse of compassion in that smile too.

“Your turn, bad boy,” said Daleen, looking at him with that mix of indulgence and disappointment only she could pull off.

He looked at the table, thinking. “Never have I ever… had sex in a science lab.”

Daleen shifted uncomfortably and Keith grinned in a way too revealing way.

“I thought we weren’t asking the sex questions just yet”, Daleen said with a sulky look at Haylen.

He looked at Felicia, who had explained the ship rules to him.

“That’s no rule, only a recommendation”, Felicia said defensively.

With a sigh, Daleen followed Keith’s example and picked up a fruity. “Traitor…”

“Why don’t you take one yourself?” Felicia asked Haylen, looking skeptically at him.

Haylen shrugged. “Haven’t had the opportunity yet.”

There was no intention behind it, his eyes simply happened to land on Xander. The TR was sitting on the direct opposite side of the table after all. Xander blushed, of course, and with an embarrassed smile looked down at the table.

Felicia snorted, shooting Haylen an amused look.

He looked back, indifferent. “Your turn.”

“Alright, here’s one safe for children’s ears”, she said with a pointed look at Daleen, who rolled her eyes again. “Never have I ever poured dishwashing detergent in the Main Square fountain.”

Not a single one left the fruities untouched.