Sunday Snippet: Wasted Credits

I'm finally pretty much through the worst of the respiratory nastiness. It's so nice to breathe semi-normal again. It's amazing what a difference it makes to take a deep breath on not end on a coughing spasm.

Not a bad week for television viewing. I finished up Endeavour's second episode of the fifth season. Also caught an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. I rather like where they've put things with Brackenreid.

Finished Luke Cage and, honestly? I liked where the series ended. I'd love to see more and I'm disappointed I won't be able to. The biggest drawback to all the streaming options now is how proprietary they're all becoming. Makes me a little sad.

Watched some Classic Roswell, third episode of the first season, which ended up dovetailing in an interesting way with the second episode of Roswell, New Mexico. Isobel using her powers to freak Maria out in the classic version played against Michael and Isobel using theirs to mess with Liz in the reboot. I'm invested way more than I thought I'd be in the new version. It's moving up the list of shows I don't want to miss.

Caught the Killjoys episode where they rescue the kids and blow up the RAC… and lose one of their own. Seriously, this show grabs me every time I watch. There's so much going on but the emotional beats always shine and don't get lost in the action. I'm looking forward to finishing out season four.

I'm through the halfway mark of Underbelly: Razor. The death toll keeps rising and the "Blood Alley" episode added to it with one of the major players going down. I'm loving the odd little beats of inner betrayal and turmoil, too.

On the sci-fi front, I watched an episode of Painkiller Jane and The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Each episode had a theme of painful past memories. Also caught an episode of Birds of Prey and had forgotten this one. I think I'm at the next to last episode before the series ends.

Finally, I watched the season one ender of Pensacola Wings of Gold. It's a to-be-continued-in-season-two thing and I guess I'll watch the first episode to see how they resolve getting rid of the entire team and starting from scratch. After that… eh… not sure I'll watch more.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Wasted Credits, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of setting a story around one of the main characters paying for sex. I actually liked the challenge of that prompt and decided to set it to tie in with the Furlough 99 universe.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Valora Prime can't figure out why a smart, attractive man like Hackett Barnes pays for sex. When she corners him to find the answer, his response catches her off guard and she has to make a quick decision. Let him in or let him go.

And a sneaky peek…

What the hell happened to me? Valora Prime happened. Not that he could admit his problem out loud.

Valora narrowed her eyes. "Not like you to copout or dwell. You're the most put one foot forward and keep moving on person I know." Her head tilted to the side and she studied him with a curious stare.

Hackett waved a hand. "Look, forget I said anything. I've got too much time on my hands right now." He turned, putting some space between them. "For the record, I'm not doing anything others haven't done. And contrary to what you think, I can't just have anyone." Living proof stood right in front of him. "I'm a supervisor, meaning I have to act like it." Sleeping with anyone in a subordinate position created complications. "That means keeping things simple. No fucking crewmembers." He might one exception and only one.

And he'd rather she not find out because she'd totally call bullshit.

Valora frowned. "That's ridiculous. The work around is to not sleep with anyone you directly supervise. There are more than ten crews, Hack."

He snorted. "Right. With constant transfers. What happens if I'm hooking up with someone and they get transferred to my unit?" Donovan would hand Hackett his ass on plate—something he wanted to avoid.

Just like he wanted to avoid this conversation.

Valora's mouth thinned to a straight line. She crinkled her nose, a habit she used when she didn't have a ready comeback. Or when she couldn't argue a point.

Hackett drove his reasoning home. "What else is there, Val? I really don't have time to dedicate to a full-on relationship. And aside from recently, it's not like I take a lot of downtime to find someone else." No one interested him anyway… except Valora.

She quirked a brow. "Your lack of R and R is on you. You earn the time but don't use it." She crossed her arms over her chest. "There's more to the story here. You're just not sharing."

Well, hell. She nailed it in one.

Fine. If she wanted truth, he'd give it to her. Let her wallow in the honesty she valued above all else.

And… holy shit. A factoid dropped in his mind and crystallized into something akin to a bizarre certainty.

Valora's outrageous indignation had nothing to do with Hackett using the sex dens… or the idea he'd been paying for his female companionship. Could she possibly be… jealous?

He wanted to find out. "Again, Val, why do you care?" She wouldn't answer before, maybe she would now.

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Almost literally bit her tongue to keep from commenting.

Interesting.

He advanced and she backed up. Retreat from Valora? Almost unheard of.

Hackett pressed onward. "Val? Why. Does. It. Matter. Who. I. Sleep. With?" He spoke each word as a sentence, driving home the question.

Val's eyes widened when her back hit the wall. "It doesn't. Not really." She glanced away.

Hackett grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Bullshit. Try again."

Valora swallowed hard but met his gaze head-on. "Because you matter, Hackett. To me."

Finally. But now what?

I'm having some fun with this story. I love the dynamic between Hackett and Valora.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye