Gray Blood

Warren’s POV
I wish I had more beer. Other than that, I’m pretty good. But there wasn’t a lot to do around here.
Sacha had been hanging around me lately; whenever I tried to ask her about David, she’d blow me off and change the subject. It was obvious that they were pissed beyond belief at each other but I didn’t feel like finding out.
I finally had some time to myself cause she had some date with some random dork here but after roaming around for while now, I was bored out of my fucking mind.
A few guys and girls had walked by me that hadn’t lived at my camp and I thought maybe I could go out on a little date of my own. Question is guy or girl?
Just for fun, I yelled out a few “compliments” to some of the people walking by. A whole fucking lot gave me dirty looks but some came over and talked to me for awhile, then left me laughing. This was so entertaining it was unbelievable. But more than anything, I wanted to go out with someone and get some action before I went completely psycho.
But it was getting too dark outside so I thought it would be better if I went inside. More fools for me to catch.
*****
Narrator’s POV
The Dining Room was one of the biggest rooms on the ship. But definitely the most popular. Everyone came here before dinner because no matter how old you were, could always stay with a drink and leave drunk, no matter what.
Warren’s POV
The room was crowded with hotties. Everywhere. I grinned at a few tipsy blondes, who giggled back at me. I began walking through the crowd, threading my way past guys and girls who I happily touched in various places and continued walking on. Two pretty little red-heads were facing away from me, watching someone in leather dance. Twins? God I hope so.
I grabbed their asses at the same time and watched them turn in shock.
“Hey! Let go!” One of them squeaked in shock. I grinned again and kissed her cheek.
“Baby are you sure you want me to let go? Cause I can hold on long enough for the both of you.”
“Sorry but we’re watching her dance.” The other said, pointing to the dancing red head in leather. If all three are related, I’m gonna have fun tonight.
I walked straight up to the red head, slipping my arms around her swaying waist.
“Hey! Hands off jackass!” Wait, that’s not a girl voice.
I let go of the guy in shock and he turned to face me. Nero. Holy fucking shit, that’s Nero! His eyes narrowed when he saw me, as if to say ‘of course its you’ and he crossed his arms. The twins backed away from us and ran behind me in embarrassment an shock, leaving Nero to back me into a corner.
“What’s your problem man? First, you assault me, then you call me a girl-” Whoa he heard that? Over the music? “-because of how I look and now your trying to get down with me?”
“I thought...that because you were wearing..............that leather outfit that....well you have a nice figure.” No matter how we met, he always managed to intimidate and back me into a corner.
“Uh, boo boo no. Just admit you were horny over me and you thought I was a girl you could rape instead of lying.” The kid was a lot shorter than me but he looked like he could tear me apart in a second without a second thought.
“Ok, I did mistake you for a girl. I-”
“Oh great. At least you have some honesty in you.” He rolled his eyes and turned to walk away but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “What the-”
“I’m sorry.” He pulled his arm out of my grasp but didn’t walk away. He eyed me as if I was lying but soon realized I was being completely honest. He continued to stare at me until I raised an eyebrow and he blushed, looking away.
“Yeah well....whatever. Just make sure the next time you see me, that is if you see me, I don’t end up getting hurt.” That comment made me feel uncomfortable, because I knew he was talking about sex instead of violence. I felt a little guilty and pissed off at myself; the kid was obviously hurting, which would probably explain why he was so defensive but why the fuck should I care who I sleep with? Sex is just like poker: keep your game face on and win the game. Who cares who gets hurt in the process.

All that matters is who wins and who loses.
“Maybe I can make it up to you,” I finally said with a smile. “If your done dancing, I’d love to take you out for dinner tonight.”
Nero grinned and shrugged. “Thought you were into girls.”
I thought so to. “I’m into more than just girls. And your really really cute.” Man, how fucking lucky am I that the kids wearing leather? Tight leather. “So you wanna leave now or I pick you up somewhere else later?” Nero thought for a second, staring at my chest, then my eyes.
“Actually, I have a better idea.”
“I like better ideas.” Nero laughed.
“Since I’m part of the crew, I can order room service for the two of us.” I like where this is going. “How about you come back to my room and we can have a private dinner?” Jackpot. I win.
“Alright-y then. What’s your room number?”
Nero reached in his back pocket and pulled out a folded card. “Do you always come this prepared to parties?”
“Well I was planning on leaving with somebody.” I grinned and grabbed his arm gently, pulling him close so I could kiss his cheek and just touch the corner of his lips.
When I pulled away, I could see him blushing a deep scarlet color. Perfect. He’s all mine. He held my hand for a few seconds as if he didn’t want me to leave just yet but he let go after I kissed his hand.
“Come by at ten, ok?” I smiled in agreement and watched him walk away.
Before he could get far, I screamed out, “Don’t change your outfit either! I like leather!” He smiled and waved before walking back to the dance floor where the majority of people were gathered and sliding into a split.
Oh yeah. I’m gonna have fun tonight.
*****
For the first time ever, I felt nervous about going out. It reminded me of my very first date. Oh, the good old days.
Nero’s room was on a different side of the ship that I hadn’t been to before and I could tell it was a lot bigger than most. As soon as I knocked on the door, the red-head popped out and grinned at me, obviously excited. The pills in my pocket suddenly felt a lot heavier than they did before. It had been awhile since I “gave” any to whoever I was sleeping with, especially depending on the person. And knowing Nero-even though I didn’t really know him-he didn’t seem like the kind of person who was up for a one-night stand so it’s good to be prepared.
Lucky I had bumped into one of the bartenders here and he was willing to give me a few. If luck was really on my side tonight, he better be a good fuck. I don’t like sleeping with pussies; they’re no fun.
Nero turned around, expecting me to follow him as I closed the door. The room was twice as big as mine and so much better. He even had a fireplace.
A bottle of wine and two glasses were sitting in front of a crackling fire and Nero slid gracefully “indian-style.” Gotta give the kid props for setting the mood. I sat down next to him, taking the glass he gave me. Ah, I missed wine.
“I like your place Nero. Don’t get me wrong but I’m seriously wondering if your trying to seduce me.” Nero looked at me with a questioning face.
“Damn, how’d you know I’d spike the wine?”
“Been there, done that.” I answered vaguely, calling his bluff. And people call me a liar. Ha. “Did you really spike the wine though?” Nero laughed and drank the rest of his glass, pouring himself another full glass. Damn, he can drink.
“You’ll find out later tonight,” he answered slyly. “If you stick around long enough.”
“Lucky for you, I can stay as long as you want me to.”
“Oh, I’m counting on that.” Grabbing the wine, I refilled my glass, even though I hadn’t finished the entire thing and put the bottle back down.
“So what exactly do you do here as part of the crew, Nero?”
Nero shrugged.
“I do a lot of shit.” He frowned and bit his bottom lip when I nodded for him to continue. “Are you sure you want to hear it all?”
“I got time.” And lots of it.
And the more I keep him talking, the more I can push him.
“Ok, well.....oh boy. Umm....I’m a forensic anthropologist, a technician, co-pilot, computer expert, part-time detective, stripper, p-”
“Whoa back up what??? Your a stripper?” I love my life.
Nero giggled and poured us both another glass.
“You couldn’t tell by my dancing?” He asked innocently. “Its mostly for fun. I love dancing at the club we’ve got back home.”
“You give lap dances?” I asked while grinning.
“Only if I’m in the mood-”
“I’ll put you in the mood.” He laughed and continued.
“-And in a really good relationship with my boyfriend.” Whoa does he have a boyfriend? Aw shit.
“You dating someone now?” Please say no, I don’t want to deal with some angry boyfriend whose partner got raped.
“No.” Yes. “My recent-ex was to much of a stalker.”
“Shit that sucks.”
“I know! He was the biggest freak of all time.” If he were a prostitute, this might’ve been easier. Raping someone who doesn’t dance with much clothing is a completely different story. Looks like he won’t get a happy ending but at least I will.
“How big of a stalker is he?”
“You mean was. At least I think so. Anyways, he got a little to touchy and clingy with me and at first, I thought nothing of it. I mean, it was kind of cute...at the time. Then he tried to keep me away from other men and started following me everywhere. Eventually, he begged me to let him move in with me and I agreed. When I went over to his place, he had all this voodoo and witchcraft and shit. He even had a shrine of me in his closet.” Nero and I had burst out laughing at the end of the story.
“Wow that’s funny. How’d ya break it to him?” Nero grinned at me and I could see the defensiveness in his eyes wavering. Good. He trusted me. Somewhat.
“I took him to his favorite restaurant the same day I found...the shrine and told him straight up we were over, over dinner.” Eh, the freak deserved it.
“Ouch.”
“The sad part was he caused the biggest scene. He wouldn’t stop crying and screaming until a security guard had to escort him out when he tried and failed to attack me.”
“Damn. He really took it badly.” Nero snorted and poured his fourth glass. If I wait to use the pills, it’ll take to long for him to pass out and less time means less sex. Fuck that, I want more.
“That bastard’s just lucky I didn’t kick his ass.....” He muttered, glaring at the fire. I put my hand on his shoulder, moving slightly closer to him and he seemed surprised.
“Let’s change the subject,” I suggested. “I don’t want you to be upset.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning back to me with a smile. But his eyes were guarded now for some obvious reason I really wanted to find out.
What are you hiding Nero?
“Thanks. What were we talking about before?”
“Umm....your jobs?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Why do you have so many?” Nero dipped his finger in the wine, looking sad.
“Although I really hate to talk about it, its better I tell you now instead of you finding out later....SLAAE uses me and my skills because I’m really uber genius smart n’ shit.” The kid may be smart, but he can’t read people, or at least not me. Thank god.
“But what’s so bad about being super uber genius smart?”
“I’m a freak.” he answered obviously, as if everyone should know that. His words made me wince. So far, I was failing at keeping Nero happy because I was too damn curious and that was really pissing me off.
“Even though my opinion doesn’t matter much, I don’t think your a freak. And I just met you so that says a lot.” My attempt worked; he laughed, almost knocking over both of our glasses. Although I wanted him to stay happy, I wanted to know more about him. So I was going to have to dig deeper. “Can you tell me what SLAAE is Nero?”
Nero didn’t stop smiling but he did roll his eyes.
“Survivor’s Last Alliance Against the Emperor.” Last? Are we the only ones left? If we got caught...then that would mean........there’s no one left to fight.
We’d be dead. No, worse than death. Trapped.
“Storm is our territory which you’ll find out more when we get off the ship. Anyways, SLAAE was created as one of the last attempts to stop the emperor with as much fire power as possible and my ass got dragged in and I’m trying to get back out.”
“How long have you been a part of ‘em?”
I took the wine bottle, wondering if the wine really was spiked, but poured myself another glass. Guess I’ll have to find out later.
“Ten years.” Didn’t he say he was sixteen?
“You’ve been there since you were six? That’s crazy!”
“Yes they are but that didn’t stop them.”
“That’s completely....retarded that they would take advantage of you like that!”
Have I ever taken advantage of six year olds? No, I’m not an old pervert. I like matured bodies.
“Like I said before,” He muttered bitterly. “I’m smart. And they won’t ever let me forget it.....OR leave.”
“That’s awful. Can they even do that?”
“No more laws against it. Besides, I’m bound to them by contract so basically, I’m screwed.”
“But how did they get you to sign the contract?” Nero laughed.
“Come on Warren. I was six, I was scared, and I was alone. So what did they do? They forced me.”
“Were your-”
“They’re not around Warren, let’s just leave it at that.” He cut me off, as if he expected I would ask the question eventually and now he didn’t have to answer. “It doesn’t matter though because SLAAE won’t let me go. So even if the war ends, I have to stay with them to help clean up the mess that the emperor made, become part of the new “corrupted but safe” government, etc. No more freedom for me. Not now, not ever.” Someone knocked on the door and Nero excused himself to get it.
To my surprise, the same bartender that had given me the pills delivered our dinner. He handed Nero the food and took it to the kitchen. The bartender turned to me and mouthed ‘pills’ before Nero came back to take another tray.
I almost forgot. That would’ve been a mess not worth cleaning up.
When I made sure Nero was absolutely one hundred percent facing away from me, I slipped two into his glass and finally relaxed myself.
I had only been caught once before trying to spike a drink and that taught me to always be alert. Carrying our glasses into the room we were eating in, making sure I didn’t confuse the glasses.
Nero finally came in the room after I heard the door close balancing a tray with food and the wine bottle.
I helped him set it down and he looked at me gratefully.
“Do you need any help Nero?” Nero shook his head as he set the table, not fully understanding what the question really meant. He shook his head again and left the room so he could turn down the lights.
“Damn Nero. You really know how to eat.” He laughed as he sat down, picking up a fork and scooping pasta on his plate as I did the same.
“What can I say. I love food. I secretly believe I have two stomachs because I’m so skinny yet I eat a ton.”
“Well I love my quality wine.” I lifted my glass and he lifted his. “Cheers.” I watched as he downed his glass and I downed mine. I felt really giddy afterwards, although most of it might have been from the wine.
1 hour later
In total, Nero had had almost 9 and a half glasses of wine. And although he was really sharp, I was surprised for two reasons. One, I’m almost shocked that he is able to-partially-keep his head up without falling over. Two, despite a bit of slurring and a few hiccups here and there, the kid is still paying attention to me very closely.
Me? I dunno, do I really need to think? Oh yeah, I think about four or five glasses.
Usually, I would’ve had more to drink but I was already really dizzy-which is weird because like I said, I can hold my wine down-and that made me believe he really had spiked the wine.
If he did, it was probably done so if he got wiped out, I would too. One step ahead of me. No matter what I plan. I gotta find out.
“Hey Nero?” He looked up at me from his glass and grinned. Ok, so he’s undeniably drunk and I’m on the way; pills should’ve kicked in by now but why isn’t he out yet?
“Mmm?”
“I’m really curious......” I started slowly, trying to sound shy. Nero put his hand on mine and leaned in close to me, his face lighting up.
“Curiosity killed the cat Warren.” He fell back in his chair, laughing lightly but there was a serious tone in his voice.
Aw fuck. What if he suspects me? Does he? Has he figured it out and he’s drunk out of his mind?
No. Impossible. He wouldn’t still be drinking if he knew.
Unless he was planning something. His fingers were suddenly in front of my face, waving wildly, making me jump in shock. And break my thoughts.
“Warren! Your spacing out! Warr-”
“Sorry.”
“S’ok.” He answered with a hiccup. “What were you going to ask?”
Got to word this right. The kid may be drunk but he’s still...I dunno. Perceptive.
“Well, I’ve been feelin’ kinda dizzy-”
“And your wonderin’ if I actually spiked the drinks right?” His eyes were dancing as I shrugged sheepishly.
“Yeah. Did you?” Nero threw his head back and laughed, pissing me off because he had power over me-power that I wanted-and we both knew it.
“Like I said before boo boo, you’ll find out.” He was definitely a challenge. A cocky little challenge who knew how to act around people when he wanted something.
So now it was my turn to get what I wanted.
I took my shoes off-damn I really shouldn’t have had beer earlier-but I reached over and rubbed my feet against his softly at first.
“Is there a reason why we’re having foot sex?” I laughed, forcing my big toe into the crook between his big and little toe.
“Isn’t it called footsie?” I asked curiously. He shrugged.
“Its the same shit. Anyways, are you going to answer my question?” He seemed suspicious now-despite him being drunk and drugged-of my actions and I felt as if for the first time in life, someone was looking right past me and into my mind. Weird.
“I just.....” Am really speechless right now because I don’t know what the fuck to say.
“What’s wrong Warren? Your looking scared.” He looked straight into my eyes, looking perfectly confident in contrast to me.
I have to think of something. Anything. I’m running out of time.
“Just wondering if your the kind of guy who....sleeps around.” Perfect! He won’t suspect a thing.
But Nero looked at me with glassy eyes, as if he were about to cry, but it was mostly from the wine. At least I thought it was.
“Umm....yeah Warren? I’d like it if you cut the crap and ask me what you really wanted to know about me.” I laughed awkwardly but stopped, trying to appear guilty.
“Fine Nero. Are you a virgin?” I looked down at my hands, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world right now, trying my best to seem flustered and embarrassed.
“Nope.” I looked up, surprised that he had answered my question without suspicion.
But then I looked in his eyes and saw doubt. And that’s why I was beginning to hate myself for not checking this kid’s background.
If I had checked with a few people, I might’ve-no, would’ve-been more prepared for this kind of situation.
He was too fucking smart.
I had to do something. I have to get him in bed.
Now. What can I do? Are the pills even working or were they fakes?
Shit shit shit. Why didn’t I check? I should’ve been more careful!
“Look Warren, your a nice guy and all but your going to have to leave.” He said blankly, pushing his chair away from the table so he could stand.
What do I do what do I do what do I do? Where did all the luck go?
He stood up slowly, almost falling as he moved away from the chair and collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Shit,” he whispered while panting. “Shit. No.” I smiled. I win.
I watched him struggle to push himself off the wall, but he failed miserably. Downing the last of my drink and laughing, I stood up slowly, watching him shake nervously. Like a frightened animal.
“What’s wrong Nero?” I mocked. “Your looking scared.” I walked over to him, grateful that I wasn’t incredibly dizzy and walked over to Nero slumped against the wall. I picked up the panting boy, holding him close to me as I carried him into the bedroom, throwing his body on the bed and slowly undressing him..........