They stand before the towering building, the block of flats where Frank's parents live, at least going by the information from a decade ago.

To Frank's eyes, it appears to have frozen in time, looking exactly the same as he remembered it.

Although, his memories of this building are few, the outward appearance being the part most etched into his mind.

Frank and Amethyst walk the sidewalk to the low fence gates, into the yard with bushy round trees plotted around.

On the gravel path leading to the entrance, Amethyst attempts to walk lightly, to not leave too big holes behind, hoping the interior will be more suitable for her feet.

“Listen, Amethyst... I gotta warn you of my parents before we see them.”

“Warn me?”

“Yeah, they don’t like non-human Sapients... They were against me being a vet, but straight up forbid me from pursuing my idea of the Sapient alien species hospital once they heard of it.

When they found out I was already going ahead with the plan, my mother Eicel, was furious, and while Hyon didn’t accept it either, at least he was a bit more tactful about it.

So, don't take their mean or rude comments to heart.”

“I see… But why are they like that?”

The question gives him pause.

“I haven’t really thought about why... They’ve always turned up their noses and scowled at the ever-increasing number of Sapients in the city.”

Frank opens the front door to the building and they step inside.

“Perhaps it is due to their past, and how they met. And specifically… when they met.”

“When...? How’s that important?”

They take one look at the elevator and determine it to be way too small for Amethyst, and they opt to use the stairs. They continue to talk quietly in the stairwell.

“Well... they met right after the war, at the mass funeral service held for the victims of the Spire Disaster and the fallen soldiers.

The Spires of Helindas were massive space elevators making space construction more accessible and also serving as communication beacons.

They were erected all around the planet, transmitting a signal, trying to contact any other Sapient species around the Galaxy.

The first that answered the call, however, proceeded to destroy all the towers and bury the surrounding area of each in kilometers of rubble.”

“Kilometers…? Just how big were these things?”

“Massive, not that I have seen them for myself in anything but photos or video.

Ever since, Metropolis has been the hub of Sapient species activity, as even to this day some still answer the call of the Helindas Spires from the far reaches of the Galaxy and find their way here.

My parents were right in the middle of the resulting war, so I can hardly blame them for their prejudice now.”

“A war... it’s hard to imagine what that was like... but it sounds horrible.”

“That’s for sure. Well, enough about that.” Frank stops at the 7th floor's first door, a dark brown frame with a matching door, a darkened copper-colored handle, and a lock.

“Sinett” reads on the middle of the door in a framed plaque.

“Okay… let’s see if my old key still fits…” Frank takes out a small physical key, looks upon it for a second, and then inserts it into the slot.

He takes a deep breath and twists it to the right.

Clack…

The lock opens and Frank pauses, not taking the key out, or pushing the door inside.

He was ready to never see his parents again, spend his time and his life at Viridian Macula, until the day that they...

...

The door ahead feels like it transforms into the entrance of a vault, sealed shut and made from the thickest steel. Despite knowing the combination, he lacked the strength to pry it open.

It feels immovable and final, like an ancient tomb’s stone block seal, something that once moved, could never be closed or put back in place again.

Surely disturbing its sacred rest would curse him for a thousand years.

“Amethyst… I don’t think-”

“Hello? Did you forget something, Pirjo?” Franks recognizes the voice.

She sounds older, the voice shakier and weaker than before, eerily so, the potency and sheer power of her voice is gone.

But there is still something left, a sort of warmth and a spark that he recognized.

“Who’s there?” The next voice is even deeper than he remembered, but more hoarse as well.

Frank could easily remember this voice reprimanding him for his test results, career choices, and being out too late.

At the time, those were negative things, but now, they seemed nostalgic, something that was lost and missing from his life.

Frank stands at the precipice, the vault is now open, but the slightly ajar door still feels like a world away.

Like a great ravine, with a bottomless chasm that was impossibly wide, much too large to ever cross.

There simply aren't enough materials in the whole world to bridge the gap.

What am I doing?

Why am I back here?

“Let’s go say hi.” Amethyst touches Frank’s wrist with her own.

Frank’s hanging head rises, and he looks at Amethyst, who softly smiles at him. The positivity pours into his lips straight from hers.

He fixes his gaze on the door, making up his mind, forcing his arm to reach out and his legs to walk.

He opens the door all the way and steps inside.

First, he notices the smell. There is but a hint of what he remembered, the rest… is something else. Musky like the old house of your grandmother, but pure and a little stinging, like a hospital ward.

He looks around, but he barely remembers the place, the entrance hall with the coat hanger hooks and coat racks, is completely alien.

As he takes off his boots, unwinding the laces by hand, he notices the doormat, green like grass. It’s very worn from the middle, like a well-trodden path, missing many of its bristles.

It’s the one from their previous home.

“Hi!” Amethyst shouts and gingerly pulls the door closed. “Sorry, we’re not this Pirjo person, but I hope you don’t mind our late visit.”

“Who’s that?” The female voice asks the other person.

“I… I’m not sure.” He answers and says louder: “Who are you? If you’re here to rob us-”

“Mom… Dad… I- I’m home.” Frank just about manages to say, before his voice breaks.

“C-come over here so that we can see you!” The female voice speaks frantically.

Frank keeps his eyes on the floor until he arrives at the entrance to the living room.

The lights are down, the large TV on the left wall is on, with a coffee table and a familiar sofa in front of it carrying many memories, but they aren’t seated there.

Of course, they aren’t.

Behind the sofa, against the wall, are two hospital beds, with small nightstands and desklamps that are turned on, illuminating the surroundings and the people on the beds.

“F-Frank!?” The person on the bed further from the entrance, has Hyon lying on it. Frank’s dad nearly jumps up from the bed but manages to stop himself before he tears any of the tubes that are attached to his sides. The last time Frank saw him, he still had short blond hair and a conservative mustache, but there was no trace of either anymore.

“My baby boy! It really is you!” His mother shoots up sitting on the bed, she seems to almost drown among the white sheets with her equally white hospital gown, despite her tanner complexion.

As Eicel spreads her arms wide open, at that moment, black spots shoot into the translucent tube filled with red that is attached just above her hip to her side.

She blinks her eyes but continues smiling, her orange fiery eyes have lost their sheen to age and illness; transformed into barely smoldering coals.

Frank doesn’t respond immediately, instead, he moves in close and embraces her.

“I’m sorry…”

“N-no my dear, we’re the one’s sorry!”

They both start sobbing.

No more words are exchanged for a while, as they just hold each other.

“Come on now, Franky, my boy! Do you still remember your old man?”

“How could I forget…” Frank goes around his mother’s bed, and hugs Hyon next, who seems determined to not cry, but fails at it admirably.

Amethyst stands at the living room’s entrance, tears welling up in her eyes too. She was so happy for Frank, that he could meet his parents again.

She’s surprised at how… terrible both of his parents look. Their faces’ skin is tight against their bones, almost like stretching it against them.

While other parts, like their hands, are wrinkled and aged, spotty, and filled with pigment imperfections.

Perhaps it was just that these were the first elderly people she had seen, but a feeling told her, that it wasn’t all that.

They were so shriveled, so fragile, that she imagined them shattering, crumbling into dust if they ever left their beds.

However, this impression is also heavily affected by the apparatuses at the end of the two beds.

Some sort of medical equipment with monitors and below them, two large milky white containers per bed. The left container has starkly red liquid stored in it, nearly full.

On the left side, it’s a gross cocktail of red with black lumps, that looks thicker than the rest of it, this one was nearly halfway full.

From the sides of both containers, tubes ran along the bed, inside the bed sheets, and into the person on the bed.

“My son, I’m so glad you came to see us…” Frank’s father slaps him on the back, but it’s more of a slow and gentle pat. “I honestly didn’t think you would visit us ever again...”

“I… I thought you’d never want to see me again...”

“Nonsense! Of course, we would have wanted to see our son! No matter what happened.”

His mother weakly holds onto Frank's sleeve, as he stands in between the two beds.

“You are the most important person to the both of us, always has been.”

Then, she looks at Amethyst.

“Do we have you to thank for this blessing?”

“I wouldn’t-”

“Please, Amethyst, no need to be modest. Step in, we won’t bite. We’ve seen just how well you’ve treated Frank in the G-TV, and it’s abundantly clear how happy you’ve made him.”

“No way! Have you been watching it?” Frank asks.

“It was thanks to our carer, Pirjo, who one day asked us if our son was an actor or something since she’d seen a man on the screens reminiscent of our son.”

On the left wall, on the same side as the living room's door, is a very dark wooden bookshelf.

Apart from books, its shelves hold physical media cases of various kinds, and at the bottom level a bunch of pictures of their family, their grandparents, and Frank in various stages of life.

“You can’t imagine the surprise! Our very own son appearing on Galactic-TV, seeing him there after ten years! We could hardly recognize you-” Hyon is cut off.

“We instantly recognized you! Time has treated you well, you just keep growing more handsome—and your hair longer!”

Frank awkwardly rubs the back of his head.

“We have a lot to catch up on… but I must ask… did you ever find Ray…?” His father asks.

“No… And I… I’m truly sorry for how I departed...”

“Oh stop that. You’re here now, that’s what matters.” Hyon waves a hand of dismissal at him.

“And to bring such a wonderful girl with you to our house, we couldn't be happier for you.”

“O-oh…” Amethyst looks away coyly, the compliments thoroughly climbing onto her cheeks.

“What-? But she’s a-” Frank is utterly lost for words.

“We should apologize to you too...We’ve had a lot of time to reflect, believe me… Of course, at first, we were upset, but in time, we began to see things in a different light too.”

“Prisoners to our beds, confined in these four walls, we had no choice but to accept that we weren’t always in the right. A lot can happen, and change, in a decade.”

“I… I see.”

“And your wonderful show as well, how could we stay angry when we see you living your best life on the screen?

So, we have decided to accept your preferences, due to how cute the both of you were in the G-TV!”

“M-mom! Why do you have to say it like that…

It’s not about my preferences or anything, Amethyst might not be a human, but she’s a person just like everyone else. All Sapients are.”

“And we see that now, too.” His mother says.

“As you know, the past is hard to let go of, but now, we have opened our palms and let it fall from our grasp.”

Downcast, Hyon curls a fist, but his fingers aren’t able to fully close. He opens his hand to an open palm. “A high time, after having held onto it for so long...”

“Oh, and your room is still the same way you left it, except tidier, as we had Pirjo unpack the rest of your things,” Eicel says with a grin.

“It’s arranged the way you used to keep your old room.”

“That wasn’t necessary… It’s been so long, and this is your apartment-”

“You’re always a part of our family, so you need to have a room.”

“Yes. Though I’m afraid you’ll have to share with Amethyst, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” His father says and grins.

“Well, actually, that’s part of the reason why we’re here,” Amethyst adds.

“H-huh?”

“We had some trouble with the hotel we booked, so… we thought, that perhaps we could stay the night here?” Frank continues.

“But of course! Think nothing of it!” The father laughs boisterously.

“Yes, like I said, this is still your home too. Even when our door’s lock broke, we insisted that we’d have an exact replica made, so that one day if you came home, your key would still fit.

“You know Frank so well, he was going to give up if it didn’t fit!” Amethyst grins.

“A-a-amethyst!”

They all laugh, except for Frank.

“Since you’re staying the night…” Frank’s mother trails off before she looks right at Amethyst. “I have just one request.”

“O-oh? What is it?”

“Do you think you’ll be able to give me grandchildren while I still live?” Eicel asks candidly.

“I… uh...”

“Mom! What are you saying!?”

“Are you not you know, an item, a thing, a couple-?”

“Stop! I- Well...”

“Despite how you’ve been acting on live television all this time?”

Hyon asks with raised eyebrows. “You ought to take some responsibility, Frank.”

“Umm… Are we… you know, that... Amethyst?”

“I’d like it if we were...”

“Right…” Frank pulls on his collar, fanning his shirt. “Excuse me, I just need a moment...”

“Take as long as you need.” Amethyst beams and chuckles, watching Frank's adorable reaction.

Frank goes to the bathroom accompanied by laughter from his parents, their amusement soon turning into a coughing fit.

He locks the door that was connected to the living room and stares in the mirror of the white-walled room.

He shakes his head and then smiles softly to himself before splashing some cold water on his face.

What am I doing?

Why does this have me so nervous all of a sudden?

Isn’t this what I’ve been secretly, and… not so secretly wishing for?

I do really like Amethyst…

She accepts me as I am… and supports me, as I do her.

Understands me so well…

She doesn’t demand a thing, yet I’d give anything to her willingly.

I just want to see her happy, have her smile, and keep that expression on her lips forever.

Is that selfish?

No, she has her wishes for us too, I’m sure.

But… do I, of all people, really deserve her?

Frank shakes his head and smiles.

What a pointless, stupid thought. How is that my decision to make?

Besides, Amethyst already told me the answer.

***

“Oh, Frank. He was always so shy when it came to matters of the heart, even if he did his best to hide it.” Eicel says.

“We’re so glad our son met you, Amethyst, who knows how much longer he would have spent alone, and with that awful Intergalactic otherwise.”

“You knew where he was, what he was doing?”

Hyon nods. “Oh, yes. Soon after Frank left, exorbitant amounts of money started to show up in our bank account.

Even so, it was just enough to keep our blood replacement treatment ongoing and pay for our cleaner, our caregiver, and everything else related to it.

We had a friend of ours check into the matter and confirm Frank was safe, even if he was possibly tangled up in something dangerous.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Even if the welfare systems here are many, none could account for our special medical treatment, not even those safety nets that make healthcare free after a certain amount of expenses.

So, at the same time, I am, and we are, forever grateful to our son for providing for us so, even if it meant we’d not see him…

But… I will forever regret allowing, and causing, him to waste his best years working on some remote planet without respite.”

“We truly are fortunate to have such a wonderful son with a heart of gold to… to sacrifice his own life, just to keep us poor sods alive…” Hyon trails off.

They have a bit of a silent moment.

“Enough of that sad stuff. We must be happy to finally be reunited with Frank, and have him also bring such a pretty and well-mannered girlfriend home.” Eicel looks at Amethyst.

“Oh, I’m not anything special...” She fidgets and looks away.

“When is your wedding? You’re getting married, right?”

“U-umm… Marriage…?” Amethyst thinks her hardest and flips through any possible memories and knowledge of this from her own or Amande’s left-behind memories.

“I believe… rings are customary to uh… such proceedings?” She lifts her arm and shows the Dust Sentence bracelet.

“I don’t have fingers… so, this is kind of a ring for me? Right?

Does that already make us married?”

Frank has just opened the door to the living room as Amethyst airs the question.

“Oh, and there’s the husband! How wonderful!” Eicel announces.

Frank looks between Amethyst, Eicel, and Hyon, the last two nod and wink at him which pulls out a smile.

He walks in front of Amethyst and takes her wrists into his hands. He pulls them forward and holds her arms gently in between them, their matching bracelets on opposite wrists.

“Amethyst.” Raising his head, he looks Amethyst directly into her eyes, into those blue, many many eyes, those enchantingly unique, hybrid eyes.

Each one of them seemed to show her surprise in a slightly different way.

“I’d love to be your husband. If you’ll have me.”

The way Frank took her hands so readily caught Amethyst off guard. He really went for it, just took her arms, like any other species, without any reservations.

Amethyst looks straight into his copper-brown eyes, seeing the sincere love, and commitment in them.

“I may not know exactly how wife, girlfriend, or lover are different from each other, but I’ll carry any title you wish to give me with pride.

Because... I love you, Frank.”

Hearing her finally say those words is a feeling like no other. All of it hadn’t been an illusion nor a delusion on his part.

All the signals she had given, all of their moments together were real.

All of it had led to this moment.

Frank keeps holding onto Amethyst’s arms and gets on his toes.

Amethyst sees as his handsome face gets ever closer, and she crouches down to meet him.

Frank purses his lips, and Amethyst closes her eyes, excited and nearly shaking in anticipation of what’s to come.

Frank kisses Amethyst on the forehead, briefly, but affectionately.

“I love you too, Amethyst.”

Amethyst has a radiant smile on her lips as she opens her eyes, feeling almost woozy from the heat gathered on her face.

Eicel and Hyon start to clap, giving them an encouraging applause.

“Are you sure you’re good with that? Shouldn’t you get in there a little more?” Hyon urges him on while clapping.

“Oh, Hyon, that was a lovely enough display. Don’t get greedy.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“I mean, we’ve been going quite fast… Even if a lot has happened, we’ve barely known each other for… about a week, actually.”

Frank says and then whispers to Amethyst: “I’m sorry if you expected more, but I don’t exactly want to do more than that in front of my parents…

So that kiss will have to do for now.” He smirks.

“No, I’m happy with that, I don’t know if I could have taken more, I feel like I’m flying in sunshine already.”

Amethyst looks at Frank with a glint in her eyes, which then flashes away as she blinks.

Sickly coughing from Eicel brings their attention back to Frank’s parents.

“D-don’t mind me, I could watch you two whisper your secrets all day and all night.”

Eicel brings a shaky hand to her face. “I still can’t believe it… I must be dreaming, are you really home...?”

“I am, though I have trouble believing it too.” He smiles at Amethyst and then looks over his parents.

“Over the years, I’ve thought of what to do, what to say if I ever came back… but now, I really don’t know where to start. There’s so much to say, so much to ask.”

“It’s okay dear. You’re home now. We have all the time in the world.” Eicel smiles.

“How about you start at the beginning?” Hyon suggests.

While our life has been entirely in this room for the last decade, G-TV and Pirjo being our only contacts to the outside world, there’s still much to tell about what’s been going on with us, and at Metropolis while you were gone.”

Frank starts at the beginning as requested; from when he leaves home to track down Ray and find a job at Viridian Macula.

Regaling tales of various incidents and happenings that went down in the barely legal operations.

How he got permission and built his own cottage in the woods, which especially impresses Hyon.

Frank mentions Pablo and his guard friends, Jack and Jill, only in passing. Their fate wasn’t something he was keen on getting caught up in.

Hyon and Eicel chime in with their comments and tales of Metropolis as is appropriate; what’s going on with their acquaintances, neighbors, and Metropolis.

They also tell chilling stories of what it was like during the height of the terrible epidemic of Dust Sentence.

After that, Frank hops ahead to the meeting with Amethyst.

Amethyst gives them an overview of how it came to pass, but in instinct, leaves out the parts about her gaining sapience, and the gruesome details of Grent’s actions.

Together, they then spin the tale of their journey so far, cutting select details in unspoken unison, creating this family-friendly edition of the events.

Finally, as they finish the summary, it has been a bit over an hour, miraculously, his parents didn’t seem tired, despite the very late time.

Such sick, and old people, would have been expected to nod off mid-story, only to wake up shortly after, commenting that they were listening and definitely didn’t just doze off.

“That’s about it, it was a bit of a quick summary, so things might seem a bit incomplete or out of order…”

“Hope we aren’t keeping you up for too long...” Amethyst says.

Hyon nods, “Not at all.”

“How come you were even awake when we came? Or do you just sleep with the G-TV on?”

“Well, we do, but we hadn’t turned in for the night yet. All we do is lay here, so… we get plenty of sleep, too much even.” Eicel says.

“Our sleeping schedule is all screwed up.”

“I see…”

Amethyst yawns long and hard, her mandibles stretching out and grasping at the air during it. Once she finally closes her mouth, she looks around at everyone staring.

“Not this again... I get tired too, okay?”

Frank and his parents laugh, and Frank whispers to Amethyst while his parents are still guffawing. “Sorry for staring, but I just can’t keep my eyes off you.”

“F-Frank!” Amethyst’s gray-skinned cheeks blush.

“They’re whispering again,” Hyon says with a knowing accentuation to his wife.

“M-hmm.” Eicel muses and continues:

“Tell you what, we’ll go to sleep now too, so you newlyweds can have your honeymoon in Frank’s room, don’t worry, we won’t hear a thing.” Frank’s mother smiles eerily wide.

“H-h-honeymoon?” Amethyst takes a step back, “D-does that mean what I think... it means?”

“Ha-ha! Very funny, Mother!”

Frank takes Amethyst's wrist and pulls her along. “Maybe lay off the Comedy Comet Show for a while?” Frank shouts back at her before they leave the room.

He hurries Amethyst along the corridors that seem to be made to accommodate beings, or things, that need wide doorways and corridors.

“Sorry about that, they didn’t use to be so… rowdy.”

They really have changed.

“It’s fine… I don’t mind.”

Frank takes her to a room, puts on the lights, and closes the door.

A window at the back wall, with the curtains aside, shows the sleepy night city through it. Below it, a small desk and a plain chair.

The desk looks like more of a workstation, as it has a hard gray surface lining the wood, protecting it against scrapes and gnashes.

There’s a bookshelf taking up half of the wall next to it, filled with various books about nature and animals of Earth and Metropolis, of plants and trees, of various alien races and anatomy.

Even a few about architecture and building, as well as those about history and photography. The shelves extend out far enough to leave room for miscellaneous items to be presented before them.

Next to the shelf, in the corner is a wooden fishing rod, crafted from a sturdy stick and line, that still stood the test of time.

On the right wall, a bed, and on the same wall as the door, was lined with wardrobe doors, embedded into the wall with great care. The left wall is empty, as it's the main way to enter the room.

“Alright, we should be safe here. As for what my mother suggested... I don’t think we’re quite ready for... that, yet.”

Amethyst turns to look at him. “Oh... Okay...”

“Thanks for, um... understanding...”

She wanted to do it...?

I don’t even know yet how I’d do it with her…

And this really isn’t the time or place.

“In that case... allow me to at least do this…” Amethyst struts a few steps to him, keeping them short; the most elegant Frank had ever seen her walk.

“Do… wha-?”

Amethyst leans forward and blows air on his forehead, parting the curtain of hair. She quickly plants her soft lips on his exposed skin, before the strands can impede her.

The smooch is over as fast as it started, Amethyst’s eyes glance at his as she quickly turns away.

“W-what a nice room, you’ve got here.”

She starts looking around his room as if nothing had happened, firmly facing her face away.

The phantom lips linger on his forehead, and Frank restraints himself from touching the spot of contact, to not accidentally dispel it.

The slightly moist sensation, the memory of her warm lips made the ground zero feel like a conflagration.

That same fire spreads tingling across his skin, along the bridge of his nose, gathering on the cheeks.

Flowing down even to his chin, but it wouldn't drip down it, as Frank realizes where this mystical glow stemmed from.

“What is this?” Amethyst looks at the various items on the bookshelf, one in particular getting her attention.

There’s a small house made of tiny twigs laid horizontally on top of each other, like a log house. Its model and shape seem familiar.

“Oh! This is your cottage!”

She looks at it from various angles. “Why have you made this? Are there tiny people who’d live in such a house?”

“No, no, it’s just a decorative item, a memory. That’s all.”

“I see… a physical memory... is it a happy one?”

“It is that too.” Frank walks up to Amethyst and picks up the tiny house and it’s tiny yard glued on its bottom. It’s a bit dusty all over.

He holds it between them, and they both look at its surprisingly intricate design, wooden crossed windows with sills, an opened door with a knob, and a yard with a path of gravel made of sand.

“A long time ago, we used to visit my Dad’s Grandparents at their cottage, outside of any major towns.

Every summer we’d go there, enjoy Grandma’s cooking, fish with my Dad and Granddad, get Mother to finally relax for a moment...

Just enjoy our vacation and those moments together.”

Frank runs a finger along the roof of the tiny building.

“When they died, we inherited the place, I wanted us to keep it, but my parents didn’t agree. It would be too much work to keep it running, and too expensive to take care of it. So, we sold it.”

“It was actually your Grandparent's home that you built again?”

“Well, it wasn't entirely accurate, since the cottage didn’t have a second floor, but they always talked about how they wanted to expand it and make it.

So, I included it back at Viridian Macula, just like in this model. It’s a little silly, right?”

“No, I think it’s sweet!” Amethyst smiles. “Finishing what they never managed to do... that's a beautiful gesture.”

“Thanks... I appreciate it.”

“It’s a shame we had to leave it behind... Could we move the cottage?”

Frank laughs in a good-spirited way. “It’s a nice idea, it’s possible, but it won’t be cheap. And where would I put it anyway?”

“Well… there’s plenty of space in my home planet.”

“Oh… I’ll have to think about that.”

Frank appears to ponder the possibility for a moment before continuing:

“Anyway… we should sleep at least a bit this night, even if we’re not that tired. Try and get into Metropolis’ rhythm. I’ll get you a mattress.”

“Okay…”

Frank leaves the room, leaving Amethyst to look around, her gaze soon focusing on his bed.

It’s too short and narrow for her to fit in it too, and it’s right up against the wall, she wouldn't even be able to hang her blades off its sides.

What am I thinking…?

Sleeping together, in the same bed?

That’s way too dangerous.

I mean we did share a moment like that before but… it was just a brief moment...

But isn’t that the done thing? That a couple sleeps in the same bed?

If they don’t, that means something is wrong with the relationship.

…

It’s too early for me to be worried… right?

Right, Amande?

…

I bet you could sleep with Grent in the same bed each night…

Amethyst shakes her head, stopping that train of thought before she visualizes it further—before it arrives at the station of no return.

We both want to make this work…

In fact, we’ve made “us” work so far, despite all the setbacks!

Not that we’ve been trying to really be at this level quite yet… but…

We’ll figure it out eventually, I’m sure of it.

A while later, Frank appears with an old spring mattress, half dragging and half carrying it.

He flops it in the middle of the floor with a mighty gust of wind and then spreads a white bedsheet on top of it.

“What do you think?”

Amethyst carefully lowers herself to sit on the mattress. It gently bobs her up and down.

“It’ll do.”

“Great!”

Amethyst lays down on the mattress already, her arms crossed on top of her chest, the blades to the sides, not touching the floor.

Frank opens up a wardrobe and finds all his old clothes.

He takes out a few boxers and stretches them, quite a few of them have the stretchy part of the fabric frayed and snap when he tries stretching them with his hands.

Finding a suitable pair, he strips his clothes and changes into them. After pulling the curtains on the window, he turns off the lights.

Rustling of bed sheets later, Frank softly says:

“Good Night, Amethyst.”

“Good Night, Frank.”

Faraway spaceships passing above the city, the slight hum of air conditioning, the only sounds in conjunction with any movement Frank makes being audible from the bedsheet’s crinkling noise.

“Frank… are you asleep?”

“No. What is it?”

“Your parents told me that you were working at Intergalactic for them…?”

“Yes…?”

“What will happen to them now that you don’t have a job?

“I… well, I do have savings, I did work there for ten years after all. But, they won’t last indefinitely… but that’s not something to worry about now.”

“But… aren’t we together now? Shouldn’t we share our all with each other, isn’t that how couples act?”

Frank chuckles quietly and sighs. “Well, all relationships are different, but I would like ours to be an open one.”

“Well?” Amethyst asks teasingly impatient.

“I’ve of course had other expenses at Viridian Macula, and will have them here as well, but it should be enough for about a year, a year and a half perhaps to pay for their treatment.”

“I see… That’s not very long, is it?”

“Indeed, it’s not. It’s just that expensive.”

“Hmm… Maybe once ISSA has hopefully accepted us as a part of the United Galaxy, we can organize things back at Midnight Iris and make some money for your parents.”

“What? No, I couldn't possibly-”

“We’ll make a hotel, one that serves everyone, a real one. Sell the ore that Intergalactic Resources dug up and export Pango’s, stuff like that! That’ll make us some money!”

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.” And we certainly cannot sell the Pango’s, they’re much too dangerous to spread into the wider Galaxy, for its and Tyrchid’s safety...

“Hey… Frank?”

“What?”

“You’ve told me a couple of times that you’d talk about your past later, would this be the time…? You did touch upon some details in our story to your parents, but you left some context out.”

“I have said that, haven’t I? Alright, fine, shoot.”

“You were born here, right? How did you end up working for Intergalactic at Viridian Macula? Why did you try to find Ray?”

“It’s… a long story if I go through all the details, but I’ll summarize it for you. My best friend, Ray, who I studied with in the veterinarian school, betrayed me.

Suddenly, shortly after a major job we did, he took all our shared money and fled somewhere. That’s what father was referring to as he asked about Ray.”

Frank sighs.

“This must have happened nearly at the same time as my parents got ill, but I only found out a few days after.

By then, I knew that treating and keeping my parents alive would take a lot of money, the amount that he stole wasn’t small by any means, and would tide us over until I could find a job, or figure something else out…”

“I see…”

“Yeah, I had a big fight with my parents about it, they begged me to not go, to let Ray go with the money, but they didn’t understand the situation, I had to give chase, for personal reasons too.

My mother took the opportunity to remind me how well government-paid soldiers made money, or those under ISSA.

And my father wasn’t much better, I’m no good at welding or with large machinery. Neither of them had ever really supported my career choice. They just wanted me to be what they used to be.”

“Your mother was a soldier?”

“You can’t really tell by outside appearances or how she acts now, but she was. First worked for the government’s association, but chose ISSA when the military was split.”

“Huh…”

“They weren’t the worst, I do have good memories, at least looking back, but… it’s still wild how much time can change people.

At least, in this case, it was for the better.

Back then, neither of them would have allowed you to even step into the building, much less… encourage me to be in a relationship with a non-human.”

Or demand grandchildren with one...

“It’s hard to imagine now… They both were so warm and welcoming to us today.”

“Yeah, right?”

Makes spending all this time keeping them alive worth it.

No, what a horrible thought...

Of course, I had no assumptions that they’d change, I just did it out of duty, and… it was easier to stay away than go back home and admit defeat.

That I never found Ray, that they were right, and I’d take some shit job that paid well, murder all my dreams at Metropolis…

At least Intergalactic allowed me some semblance of freedom and to do almost what I wished to do.

“So… that got off track a little bit, but anyway, I tracked Ray to Viridian Macula, where his trail ended as well.

As I… investigated the only facility on the planet, Rocco offered me a job there, with a bonus promise of helping me find Ray.

It was an easy decision, the pay was incredible, and the work, while not exactly what I had in mind, still lined up with my goals.”

“Rocco never found Ray, right? Are you sure he even tried looking for him?”

“I think so, but yeah, I still have no idea where he went, or why he did what he did.”

“I’m sorry. That must be… hard.”

“I won’t deny, my thoughts do always circle back to Ray from time to time, our history together, his motives for doing this… and everything else…”

If I did something wrong…

“But lately, it’s been much easier to forget about him…”

Frank’s smile is audible in his words. Though, even if it wasn’t, Amethyst could of course make it out in the darkness with her dark vision.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

There are plenty of things I barely think about as well, thanks to you…

Like… how I don’t have a past, how I shouldn’t really exist as I do now… and-

“I-I think we both should focus on the future.”

“Agreed, we can’t change the past, so that’s all we have.”

“It’s not all we have. Let’s not forget about the present.” Amethyst says with stark, excited positivity.

“I don’t think I ever want to forget this present.”

Amethyst giggles softly, “And I’m so glad I got to meet your parents, I really did think they were dead, based on how nostalgic you talked about them.”

“Come on, drop it already will you? I didn’t think I was being that somber… Just casually speaking of the past...”

“Alright, alright. If you say so.”

“Argh- Amethyst!”

Amethyst chuckles and soon after a peaceful quiet falls into the room.

I can imagine Amande telling me what a milestone this is. Telling me what a joyous occasion today has been. Meeting my beloved’s parents, and getting married to him.

I can almost feel her presence, her congratulatory words, but I’m sure it’s just my imagination, the quirks of my mind.

Our consciousnesses brushed against each other, conflicted, and struggled.

My existence is proof that she’s gone. Only her phantom knowledge remains.

...

“Good Night, Frank.”

“Night, Amethyst.”

Amethyst closes her eyes, despite feeling too giddy to sleep. Today was a great day, perhaps even the best day she’d ever lived, in her current state of mind.

She couldn’t wait for all the good things tomorrow would bring, thoughts racing with just how much fun they’d have on their first date.

Trying to guess and figure out just what Frank had in store for them.

Frank stares at the ceiling, his eyes already used to the darkness.

I told Amethyst I was going to show her Metropolis… but where exactly should I take her? Do we want to bother with public transport to get around the city, or just stick to Compassion for now?

Would she like to see the Plaza of the Goddess? But there’s always so many people there…

I haven’t really spent time this side of Compassion, I don’t even know any restaurants around here…

What am I to do?

Oh Goddess help me...