Red came down the stairs and stopped at a sight that was both unbelievable and cute - Twitch in an intense conversation with a gorgeous young woman, possibly late 20s, early 30s, both smiling, occasionally laughing and now and then touching each other gently.


    He had spotted her as she slowly walked down the last few steps and turned around: ?Oh hey Red. Uh, this is Valarie. Val, this is Captain Red.“


    Valarie turned to Red and put out a hand, the arm covered in the sleeves of the mixture of overall and kimono that she was wearing and which was a big fashion trend on Binary Bloom these days.


    Red approached her, taking in her slender figure, slightly too puffed face and brownish hair. They shook hands.


    ?Color me surprised. Twitch here never mentioned he has a girlfriend on the station.“


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    The hint of a blush coming to Valarie’s face let her know that the two were still dating, and maybe hadn’t made it official just yet. But the other woman quickly found her wits again: ?We’re not calling it that, yet.“ She shot a quick side-glance at the Rusty Bolt’s pilot, who was slightly more nervous than her. ?Life is chaotic sometimes. I heard your last haul was a miss. Does that mean you’re going out again soon?“


    So Twitch had followed Yezz’s instructions, Red noted. Good.


    ?You’ll have him for a few days at least. We’re trying to figure out what to do next. Besides, our ship needs some repairs.“


    Valarie smiled at that, and gave Twitch a small bop on the sides.


    ?Twitch“, Red turned to him, ?Can you be at the Rusty Bolt in an hour? So we can discuss next steps with Grubs?“


    Twitch nodded, ?Sure thing captain.“


    ?Great. See you then. Take care you two. Valarie, nice meeting you. Come to dinner with us today or tomorrow?“


    ?With pleasure“, Valarie answered, with another smile crossing her lips.