In The Orbit (Part I)

48. Khan

On instinct, Khan grabs the front of Strom's shirt and yanks him towards him. Khan shuts his eyes and tilts his head up to meet Strom's lips again. It's a bit rougher than when Christina or girls back home kissed him. But way hotter, and it feels more passionate, although he doesn't have much to compare to. He goes for a little tongue, and Strom responds by putting his hand on the small of Khan's back and pulling him closer.

Their mini makeout session is cut short when Karma grabs a fistfull of Khan's too-long hair and pulls him back.

"What in the actual HELL are you doing?!" she spits.

Strom is beet red. Khan covers his crotch. He knows what's going on down there. He wishes he had punched Strom again instead of reacting the way he did. But it was instinct. He wonders why his instinct was to do that. He feels his face becoming hot too.

Karma wraps her hands around both of their wrists again and pulls them away down the hall. Khan runs his tongue across his lips. They feel different somehow: warm and soft and scandalous.

Karma opens a door and leads them down many flights of immaculate white stairs. Khan doesn't look at Strom, and Strom doesn't look at him. They proceed in a very uncomfortable silence.

They reach the bottom of the staircase, and Karma says, "Can I leave you two alone for a few minutes without you shoving your tongues down each other's throats?"

"Yeah," Strom mumbles.

She picks the lock on one of the doors and exits.

Strom and Khan stare at the floor for a long time without saying anything. Khan awkwardly tries to hunch over and messes with the crotch of his sweats. Strom leans against the wall and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a gloopy mess of eggs. He drops them on the floor, and wipes his hand on the inside of his shirt.

Then Khan says, "We're not gonna..." at the same time Strom says, "Let's not talk about that, ever."

Strom says, "Sorry what were you saying?"

"I guess we aren't talking about this ever again," Khan replies.

"No no, what were you gonna say?"

"We aren't going to like... make that a thing, are we?"

"No no, I was just trying to shut you up about the Ruv-Kne."

"Yeah, and that was just impulse. Like when I punched you."

"Yeah, definitely."

They are silent for a few seconds. They both look up and Khan awkwardly catches Strom's eye. Neither looks away. Strom shifts and Khan thinks it might be towards him but he can't tell.

Then Karma bursts in and whispers, "Come on, let's get out of here.

Suddenly my heart stops for a second. "What about Harold?" I ask

"What?" Karma asks.

"He and I were both involved with the Ruv-Kne!"

"Huh?" Karma asks.

"Ohhhh yeah, I assumed you guys knew by the way I was yelling sorry."

"Well, keep this quick, we want to beat the crowds."

"What does the siren mean anyway?" Strom asks.

"That we have to get the hell out of here," Karma says.

"Basically what happened is that Dipper asked us to store a bunch of Ruv-Kne for him, and it was all sealed and stuff, but we opened the case and asked Azalea what it was because we thought it was drugs because Dipper was so tweaked out. So anyway, Azalea told us to destroy it, so I threw it down the elevator shaft. I guess The elevator crushed it or something, and now everyone who gets in the elevator is gonna die!"

Khan is starting to hyperventilate at the end. The guilt and panic is crushing him so hard that he feels like he can't breathe. Strom puts a steadying hand on his back, the same place he laid it when they were locking lips. His body freezes at Strom's touch and he sucks in his breath and then lets it out and starts to breathe normally again.

Karma stands there and takes in the information for a few minutes. Then the lets out a long swear.

"What does the siren mean?!" demands Strom.

"That the satellite is in peril and we have to GO."

"Where the heck are we supposed to go?" Khan asks.

"Out," Karma says. Khan can see that she is in escape mode, and she plants her iron grip around Khan's wrist again, and drags him and Strom out the door she came in a few seconds ago.