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  It is recommended to read chapters 3-6 of Locus: The Age of Spring before reading further.

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  Miles in:

  Giftmas Jerky (Part 1)

  

  "You ever tried rabbit?" Silence. "Yeah, I didn't think so. First dibs means you get what? A nice heaping pound of pork?" Miles carefully adjusted his position behind the tied-up Supra.

  He pulled a piece of dried meat from his pocket and wagged it in front of him. "You don't know what you're missing."

  He bit into it, but couldn't break through. Too tough. He jerked it away from his mouth, nearly pulling his teeth out. Shwip. His arm flew back and almost hit the wall. "Yep. You don't know what you're missing." And Garrett was never allowed to dry meat again.

  The Supra rolled his head onto his shoulder and back down. Was he waking up? His arm twitched behind his back before he went still. Nope.

  "No, I'm not sharing." Miles slid the jerky back into his pocket.

  Another person in grey started to approach. Crunch. Crunch. Sansi? What did she want? Sansi got closer, but stopped before he could really make her out. Caution was a good idea. She might not have needed it since the Supra was pretty out of it.

  "Is he okay?" she asked, too loud.

  Lucky this building didn't have neighbors. Some place called "Postal." Didn't have much inside. Just a counter, shelves, and lots of supplies tossed around everywhere for Supra stationed nearby.

  "I think so. He's alive, at least."

  The Supra twitched again, and then his body relaxed. His face was grey and patchy, with creases in his forehead that made him look older, and short black hair. The blue uniform he wore was dirty and torn from being dragged through gravel. An arrow stuck out of the top of his foot. An arrow Miles wasn't going to get back. The Supra looked innocent while sleeping. Too bad that wasn't the case.

  That ended up being quite the shit show, but the Supra brought it on himself. The group had already lured the posted Supra away from the building. It was supposed to be clear, but this one showed up. Emi was making her way into the building when he spotted her, so naturally Miles shot him in the foot. He would have been fine if he had just stayed down, but he went for his sling gun... and Zax, being Zax, came out of nowhere and hit him pretty hard in the head. The Supra was drifting in and out during the last few minutes while Miles played babysitter.

  Crunch. Snap. Emi came out of the building, followed by Zax, Pablo, and Garrett. They finished pretty quickly. They all held bags or slung them over their shoulders, carrying the stuff they'd picked up inside. Miles wanted to see what was in there, too—maybe Pablo or Emi found something for him. All of them backed up and looked at the building like they were waiting for something to happen. Must've started the fire.

  Emi turned toward Miles and looked at him for a few seconds. Should he wave at her?

  "Miles! Move him, please!" Emi yelled. Guess not.

  Yeah, whatever. The Supra was too close to the building. The guy got luckier by the minute that they weren't complete assholes. Miles kept behind the Supra, grabbing the rope around the Supra's wrists.

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  Crrrrshhhh— He dragged him a few feet before dropping him face down into the gravel.

  The Supra turned his head to the side to get air. His eyes were closed and his mouth hung open. Zax really fucked him up.

  Miles lowered beside him and took the rabbit jerky out of his pocket. He pressed it into the Supra's hand before helping him close his fist around it.

  "There you go." Miles dusted his hands off and stood back up.

  "Thought I'd share after all. In fact, you can have the whole thing." he told the Supra.

  "Happy Giftmas."

  

  Sansi was standing there watching, but kind of far away, so she may not have seen what he gave the Supra. She waved a little. There had to be something she wanted from him.

  Miles picked up into a jog to meet her, but slowed down when Sansi put her hands on her hips like she was disappointed. Was she? Crap.

  "Don't tell Garrett," he said, stopping in front of her. Garrett might already know the jerky was terrible, but just in case, there's no way Miles wanted to be the one to show it.

  Sansi shook her head and shrugged. "If you're referring to Garrett's gourmet jerky, I left mine in the building."

  Thank steel—at least she understood.

  "Your secret's safe with me," Miles told her, and she laughed a little.

  In front of them, Emi was still staring at the building while others were starting to move. Pablo was already halfway to the truck. He should've waited for Miles.

  Miles started walking forward, and Sansi walked beside him. "Hey, can I borrow you later?" she asked. "I found a couple of things I think Emi might like, but I want your opinion."

  "Sure, I guess. I mean, you probably know what she likes as much as I do."

  Knew Emi for years, and that was still true. She'd be fascinated by something one day and stop caring about it the next. Whatever she wanted, she already had.

  Sansi sighed, annoyed. "That's not true. You know her far better than I do. What are you giving her for Giftmas?"

  This was the first Giftmas Miles felt like he could breathe—no worries about giving her the right thing. No stakes.

  "Nothing," Miles said. "She doesn't want anything this year."

  Garrett and Zax started toward the truck. Seemed the fire caught. Emi motioned for Miles and Sansi to catch up.

  Crrsh—"Miles." Sansi suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Are you serious?"

  Miles slowed to a stop too and turned to Sansi. "...Yeah. We're focusing on mission planning this year, so we're not going to worry about the whole gift thing."

  "For fuck's sake, Miles." Sansi started walking again, much quicker now. She passed Miles, so he followed. "She has a present for you," she said, facing forward, not even looking at him. "I'm sure she expects something back. When a girl does the whole 'I don't want anything,' she actually wants something."

  "No, she really doesn't want anything." Sansi wasn't there. She didn't hear the whole conversation. Miles understood that a lot of things he gave Emi, she didn't even look at or use. She was okay with not getting anything—in fact, it would be better for both of them if they didn't do a Giftmas exchange.

  Sansi turned to him. "I swear, Miles. I love you, but you are so thick sometimes." Fuck. And she's such a—God—can't even think it. Pablo would kill him.

  Wait—did Sansi say Emi got something for him? Couldn't be. Emi was very clear when she said no gifts. If she got something for him, then it would be rude as hell for Miles not to give her anything back. But if he got her a gift, that would be doing exactly what she told him not to do—

  "Aghhhh." Miles rubbed his head through his hood. Stupid coat—didn't feel the same as his hair. "If she wanted something for Giftmas, why did she tell me not to get her anything?" Heat rose through him.

  Sansi grunted. "I don't know. I'm sure there are lots of different reasons. I know I've said that before when I wanted to see how much a person cared about me. At least that person came through."

  Miles vaguely remembered that. Sansi's "I don't want anything" led Pablo to stuff a handmade vase with flowers and arrange them by color.

  "I could do flowers," Miles said.

  "Great idea, but it's winter."

  Emi's voice interrupted. "Taking your sweet time." She had her arms folded in front of her like she was trying to show she was tired of waiting.

  "Yeah, yeah," Miles said.

  Emi turned and waved with the back of her hand before walking slowly toward the truck.

  Sansi kicked some gravel, and it rolled pretty far. "I can't believe you weren't going to give her anything for Giftmas. It's only three days away. I can make something like soap or a candle, and you can say it's from you if you want, but it would be super last-minute."

  "Nah. It's fine." He really shouldn't have anything to worry about. Emi wasn't like Sansi or other girls. If she said she didn't want anything, she meant it. But what if she was disappointed she didn't get something? That was also possible—especially if Sansi was right about Emi already having a present for him. Damn. Why are women so fucking confusing?

  "Crazy women," Miles muttered.

  "What?"

  "Nothing."