Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Bonus Short

(Author's Note - I confess I felt a bit sorry for Rhys, he always seemed to be his own worst enemy! I wrote this story originally for one of RaeKitano 's short story challenges way back at the end of 2012! I hope you enjoy it)

Resolutions (N.Y.E.)

Rhys Owen examined himself critically in the full length mirror. His fine blond hair shone like polished shimmersilk, brushed carefully to fall to one side in a sleek waterfall, no need to do any more to that. Carefully he added a drop from a small bottle to each eye and blinked slowly. Now when he opened his eyes again, they were sky blue, bright enough that he could see his own reflection in them. He ran the tip of a pink tongue along his full bottom lip, then brushed on a clear shiny gloss. He ran his tongue over the lip again, checking that the gloss did not smudge. He pouted provocatively, checking his reflection from both sides. Yes, he thought he could safely say that he still had what it took. He peered closer. Despite what Niall had said, he didn't have wrinkles. Sure, he had a few—a very few—laugh lines, but they added character, after all, he wasn't a teenager any more.

He turned sideways to check his back view. Black shimmersilk pants outlined the perfect shape of his bottom, still round and firm thanks to those boring exercises, but he had to admit they had paid off. The sky blue wrap-around shirt, fine enough to see through, was now the exact colour of his eyes, grading to a darker blue around his waist, crossed over to form a vee down his chest, the ends fastened behind his back.

He checked his silver wristcom. Time to go. It was the night before New Year's Eve 2499 and he had a job to go to. He was going to spend New Year's Eves, two of them, on Moonta in the Capella system.

This year he had been lucky enough to get a short contract as a steward on the space yacht Diamond Sky. The passengers would board the yacht at Walleroo from 20:00 the day before New Year's Eve, then they would cross the date line to celebrate their first New Year's Eve on the beach at Paradise Island's most luxurious resort. Then at about 2:00 am local time they would be whisked up by shuttle to the Diamond Sky where the party would continue as they orbited the planet in a westerly direction, to arrive at Wallaroo just in time for New Year's Eve there. At Wallaroo, they would be conveyed to a five star hotel overlooking the city square where the lion dancers would be performing, and that's where Rhys' job would end for the night.

He boarded the yacht and went quickly to work, checking that he knew where all the drinks were kept, memorising the stock. Before long, the privileged men and women who had enough credits to buy a ticket, began boarding and Rhys began work in earnest, serving drinks and small appetisers; tiny spring rolls, miniature dumplings stuffed with tasty vegetables and bite sized shrimps fresh from the seas of Moonta. For drinks, they had everything from Fayruz champagne to Orion brandy.

There were three other stewards, his co-worker Niall and two women, neither of whom were known to him. They seemed competent enough but not, he thought, as deft as he was. He wished, not for the first time, that his lover Felix was with him. He smiled to himself, Felix was very... deft. They had been together since that ghastly time on Fayruz, when he had been kidnapped and very nearly murdered. Not to mention unceremoniously dumped by his latest lover.

Felix had been there to pick up the pieces. Both of them had been employed as stewards on the Voyager, a ship which transported colonists and cargo between the stars, and their relationship had flourished sufficiently for them to keep it alive even when their contracts on the Voyager had ended. They had been together for just over four months now, and Rhys had— rather to his surprise—stayed faithful. Fidelity wasn't usually high on his agenda. Maybe getting kidnapped by an ex-lover as payback had given him an incentive to change, he thought wryly.