Override (Glitch)

began circulating through the mask. Finally I was able to press the release button and step back into the tent.
    Adrien was waiting, all clean and in a dry tunic. I stepped out tentatively, worrying that I looked ridiculous in the tight suit. When he saw me, his eyes widened. He looked me up and down. Color bloomed in his cheeks, but he didn’t look away as a sideways smile slowly spread.
    His reaction made me feel bolder, and I walked around the small space and gave a little twirl, feeling more confident with every step. When I looked back at him, his bright aqua eyes twinkled.
    “Nice suit,” he said.
    *   *   *
    I arranged the pillow under my head and tried to get comfortable. I was so tired, I thought I’d fall asleep right away. Instead, the events of the day played like a vid screen across my closed eyelids.
    I thought of Milton and wondered if even now his poor, crumpled body was being tossed into one of the incinerators. Bile rose a little in my throat at the thought. I banished the image and tried to think of something else instead. The living matter, not the dead, Adrien had said.
    I looked at the thin tent wall and tried to imagine Adrien on the other side of it. Was he asleep already? I thought of his arms around me earlier and felt cold and lonely. There had been so much space separating us for so long. And now that we were finally together, we still felt too far apart.
    I sat up, then after a brief moment of indecision, got to my feet and padded over to the hanging tent flap of my room and slipped into his.
    He was sitting at the edge of his mattress, his forearms on his knees. His eyebrows had been bunched together as he stared at the wall with a sad, faraway look in his eyes. He blinked, surprised by my sudden appearance, and then smiled as I stepped inside.
    I’d been so sure when I left my room, but suddenly I felt self-conscious. I didn’t really have a reason for coming in and disturbing him. He gestured for me to sit. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” he asked.
    I sat down on the mattress beside his. Each room partition had several beds for when the compound was full of people traveling through. “Nothing,” I said. “I just … didn’t want to be alone.” I looked down and fiddled with the tip of my glove, suddenly shy and awkward. He grabbed my hands to stop me, then moved swiftly so that he was sitting beside me. His thigh was warm next to mine.
    “I’m not really in the mood to be alone either. I think too much when I’m alone.” His smile was sad, but he quickly masked it with a mischievous wink. “Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking of you in the other room, so close by. In that suit.” I blushed.
    He let go of my hand, but absentmindedly began to gently trace a line up over my wrist, to my elbow, then all the way to my shoulder. The fabric of the new suit was so thin, I could feel the pressure of his fingertip. A shiver went up and down my body, and I couldn’t help arching my back.
    “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
    All the day’s worry and terror and chaos suddenly dropped away at his touch. I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to pull him close, but I was too awkward and the movement knocked us both back onto the mattress. Adrien laughed. Our legs tangled together and he dropped his head to nuzzle at my neck. I ran my gloved hands through his hair, trembling at the feel of him in my arms. But the material between us was such a barrier. I was tired of barriers.
    “This stupid suit,” I said as my hands curved up behind his shoulder blades.
    “Hey, I am very fond of this suit. It’s saving your life.” His fingers clutched at my waist, right above my hips. It sent a burning fire racing through my stomach.
    “But I know what you mean,” he murmured. A low growl escaped his throat as he pulled away.
    “What’s wrong?” I sat up in alarm.
    “Nothing,” he said with a laugh, running his hands through his hair. “You’re driving me crazy is all.”
    His words gave me a zing of satisfaction. “Really?” I asked, smiling wide.
    “Really. Look at you!” He gestured up and down at me. “And I can’t even kiss you!” He reached out and wove his fingers with mine. He closed his eyes and dropped his head slightly so that his face was shadowed in the dim light. “When I’m touching you, it’s like everything slows down for a minute. All my thoughts finally narrow down to focus only on the feel of your hand in mine.