P R O X I M O



I wove through the crowds in unidentifiable clothing. Kuzo's in sector 44 was as much a dive as any other. But this dive held my interest. Dancers moved in sultry sways above the drinkers on mag levitation pads. The music beat smoothly with each sway of their hips.

I slipped towards a set of clouded glass doors. A pair of thickly armed bouncers locked onto my hooded head.

"ID bar." One grunted over the music with a hand raised.

I cut a dark look to him. His pale skin caught the blue and purple lights like a fucking traffic light. "Move." I growled.

He glanced at his colleague. "Bio-scan this asshole."

I chuckled darkly as they traded irritated looks. "You won't find anything. Perhaps this will be identification enough." I told them slowly as I pulled back my hood.

Their eyes bulged and they froze. Staring at the stark tattoos running down the side of my face.

"Prox–"

"Waste a second more of my time gawking and you won't just lose your jobs you will lose your heads." I informed him loud enough over the music. "You never saw me tonight." I finished.

He stumbled back into the door with a rapid nod and smashed his fist into the door pad. It opened silently to me and I strode inside without another word. A floor lit hallway with more doors on either side. I passed them all going for one in particular.

I stopped before the one I sort. I flicked my wrist over the pad and it glowed before opening into a darkened room. A large bed lay in the centre with a long legged woman watching me with a predatory smile.

"You're late."

"You're clothed." I returned, striding in smoothly as the door closed behind me.

She clicked her tongue and rolled onto her stomach watching me beneath thick lashes and darkened lids. Her black hair flowed down her back in waves. Her hips curved like an hourglass and her lips coated in a dark shade of purple.

"Drop your cloak." She ordered.

I smiled darkly and obeyed. It hit the floor and she scanned my broad chest before slinking up from the bed and standing before me. She trailed a nail down my chest before cutting back up to meet my eyes.

"I missed that body of yours." She murmured as she moved behind me. I stayed in place acutely aware of her every action. Her every game. "Remove your jacket."

I unbuttoned it carefully before shrugging out of it. She ran her hands up my biceps and along my shoulders when it hit the floor. I took a measured breath.

"Been busy?"

Her nails sank into my skin when I said this before she returned to face me. "Jealous of my clients again?" She drawled, licking her lips. I watched the lush purple shine before catching her dark brown eyes again.

"I have no need to be. You have no interest in them."

"And how would you know that?" She whispered, dipping her head close to my neck and letting her tongue graze up it.

I briefly clenched my teeth with a smile. "They bore you."

She chuckled into my skin. Causing ripples to run through me like a live charge. "I like my toys with an edge." She pulled away from me and took a step back. She flicked her hand to my dark shirt.

I began with the buttons again but she shook her head. "Break it."

I raised my head to her with a flat look as I tore the shirt apart and buttons scattered to the floor below us. She grinned with a dark look crossing her eyes. "I also like them with power. In body or mind... it seems you have both."

"If only you knew the half of it." I stated darkly.

She approached me again and dragged those dark, long nails down my bare skin. This time I moved quickly and picked her up easily, hooking under her legs and pressing her into the wall. A breath left her with a purple smile.

"I want your secrets." She growled, moving forward and biting my lower lip hard. I drew my hand around her throat and watched her lick her tongue along her mouth with my blood on it.

"If you knew them, you wouldn't be breathing." I murmured, watching her smile grow darker.

"Now I just want you more." She whispered, moving to assault my lips again. I deepened the kiss and drew her off the wall and threw her onto the bed.

"Take your clothes off." I growled down at her. She smirked up at me and moved for her laced black corset. "Slowly." Her hands became exaggerated and careful to pull at strings and fabric. I watched, towering above her waiting for my move. But my patience quickly disappeared.

I drew a dagger from my leg sheath. Her excitement only grew as she watched it glint and I moved on top of her.

"Got anything else hard tucked away in there you want to take out–" She grinned as I glared, cutting swiftly down her black corset and shredding the bra beneath effectively. "I don't know what I like more. That look or your skill with a blade."

"You know it's not my only skill."

"I want your hands on me." She told me, pulling my neck down and dragging her nails along my back slowly.

I obliged her. For the next hour I followed each one of her commands. Then I gave her my own. Lust and games. Primal desire and pleasure mixed with pain. I had no interest for more.

She sighed long and deeply as our breathing evened once more and I drew up from the bed.

"I'm not finished with you." She told my back as I searched for my shirt and trousers.

"Yes you are." I answered flatly. She let out a puff behind me in frustration and threw something at the back of my head. I whirled on her with more darkness than before and she grinned readily. It was a shoe.

"Do not test how far my restraint goes outside of our desire. It doesn't end well." I murmured the last part as I pulled my shirt over my scratched torso. She admired her own work as I found my trousers and tucked it in.

"I love seeing that darkness. It's why you're so much fun to play with." She cooed, running her hands along the sheets slowly. I stood and quickly typed into my wrist holo.

"Your credits are paid."

She pouted up at me and twisted a piece of dark hair around her finger. "Why not let this night continue outside these walls?"

"Because my walls–" I said, as I secured my jacket and its many weapons inside, "–are off limits."

"You'd have a better night with me in it." She retorted, looking at the many blades that glinted within and various guns. "Prox come on–"

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, Florence."

"You know I hate that name!" She snapped as I turned to the door. I heard another object flying at my head and I dodged to the side catching it simply. I looked at her high heel before slamming it into the wall with a dagger.

She only laughed loudly as I left that dark room.



* * * * *



The more steps I took away from that room the clearer my head got. The less intense the smell of her perfume and the feel of her skin.

"Comm link, Octavius." I stated, walking out of Kuzo's into the cool night air.

A craft already descended before me and an armed guard had the door open in less time. I jumped in and dropped my hood.

"Proximo." Octavius answered in my ear. I refused a drink inside the craft as we ascended before reconsidering and swiping it off the guard. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"You can let Kuzo know that his staff will not last long if they keep making so many mistakes."

"I will notify him."

"Good. Now you can let me know if our weapons deliveries made it securely to our new base of operations."

"They did. They are very... advanced." He ventured.

"You expect anything less." I snorted, downing the contents of the glass.

"Of course not–I'm glad I'm working with the people on the right side of these weapons."

"A good answer." I stated flatly. "Make sure Xaphra receives his cut."

"Consider it done, Proximo."

"One last thing."

He waited silently as I watched the city blur past in the fusion craft. "I want you to break the new recruits with me tomorrow. Prepare sufficiently and do not be late." I terminated the comm before he could respond.

I glanced at the guard in red and black armour opposite me who kept his eyes anywhere but directly on me.

"Wilko, correct?"

The guard stiffened briefly before dropping his hood, showing me a shaven head paired with his stubbled jaw. "Yes, sir."

"Drink with me." I ordered, leaning back in my seat and setting my arm along the back. He moved quickly to fill my glass with amber liquid before his own. I smirked darkly at him and clinked it into his with a bit too much force.

He nodded and took a small sip cautiously.

"What sector were you in before your transport change?" I asked.

"Keep guard, sir."

"Ah yes that is where I know your face from." I stated, eyeing him more closely and making him avert his eyes.

"Where exactly were you then. When the rebels lay siege to it?" I asked calmly.

His entire body seemed to go rigid as I watched him. "With the units on the ground–trying to cover the entrance from the ground–"

"Name two you were with." I said slowly. "I will make sure they support your claim." I finished with a lethal smile.

A droplet of sweat left his temple and he gripped a gloved fist against the seat. "I assure you, Proximo I was with–"

I laughed loudly. He flinched back into the seat before me. "Why is it that every person is so fucking bad at lying in this city?"

He remained silent. I swirled the liquid around the tumbler slowly.

"Get out." I said simply.

"Sir?" He asked in confusion.

"Did I stutter? Get out of my craft."

"We're airborne, Sir–"

"Am I fucking blind as well as stuttering?" I growled, opening the door as we moved. A robotic sound pinged warning us of it at such height and speed.

I ignored it and lunged forward, grabbing him by the neck and breathing in his fear. "Either you take your chances with that fall or I send a fusion round through your skull now. Your choice." I snarled.

His breathing accelerated and he flashed his eyes to the city flying past outside. He knew I was never one to bluff. I never had been. He inched over to the edge as the wind rushed by. His whole body was shaking as he inched before it. I drew my gun and levelled it at him when he glanced back. He took the last step over.

I grabbed him by the back of the collar and threw him back inside.

The door closed and I holstered my gun. I pulled my drink back up to my lips and took a long drink.

"Now I know you're loyal. You won't leave your post on guard again will you?"

He started dragging in terrified breaths before nodding rapidly on the floor.

"It will not happen again sir–I'm so sor–"

"Get off the floor and act like my guard not a common beggar."

He flew into the seat in the next moment and swallowed loudly. His entire body was rigid in the seat awaiting my next word.

"Now you can have a proper fucking drink with me, Wilko."