Pel is a bisexual space pirate and the younger brother of Adda, the main character from R. E. Stearns novel Barbary Station.
Pel, nicknamed Pel Mel because of his fast-moving, impulsive nature, is in many ways the epitome of the chaos bisexual archetype without any of the nasty stereotypes that frequently get thrown in with it. A charming, chronic flirt, he's careful to never imply anything serious by it, and while he does frequently make bad decisions he's usually the only one impacted by the fallout. Deeply attached to his older sister Adda, who helped raise him after the death of their mother, Pel is loyal, sweet-natured and adaptive, good at navigating seemingly impossible situations and finding creative solutions.
Pel is also an abuse survivor, something that shapes the way he approaches relationships throughout the book. First forced into indentured servitude by his ex-boyfriend's drug lord father, offended by the boldness with which Pel approached him asking for a better job, Pel spent a long time working under highly dangerous conditions in a high tech drug lab. After that, he was sold into sexual slavery to one of the drug lord's underlings, a woman who beat him so violently that by the time he was rescued and adopted by the pirates he'd permanently lost most of his sight.
Due to his experiences, Pel avoids anything more intense than casual flirting throughout the novel, but his bisexuality is seamlessly visible throughout the novel despite that.