"I'm so happy I asked you out." It was the first words I spoke in the morning to her.

[Me too,] she sighed breathily. [I feel like what we have...it's...hard to put into words.]

"You don't have to," I said, wrapping my arms around her with a small smile, like I always seemed to be wearing around her now. "When you find someone you love, truly love, it just feels right, doesn't it? Words can't even begin to describe it."

I'd honestly never felt so complete. Normal girls were one thing, but Saga, who could reside in my head and heart fully, having this kind of connection with her was impossible with anyone else. When I looked back at how things had been with Karu--which was rare--I realized just how hollow what we'd had was. Even though at the time, it had seemed so...so there, so all-consuming, so important, I couldn't help but feel the difference between the two girls was almost as big as when I became Exhuman. Certainly at least as pivotal.

It was scary, yes, but it was also captivating, enrapturing, beautiful. Now that we had opened up to each other, Saga and I were...she was almost like a completely different person. She wasn't self-conscious or disconnected or lazy, she was cool, inspiring even, I just wanted to be around her, all the time.

Soul mate, if the phrase didn't sound so stupid in my head.

We had spent the rest of the night in each others arms and made beautiful love. Her pale body was like an angel's, so delicate and gentle, her hair inky like the cosmos, her skin porcelain.

Like china, I mused.

As ever, her mind amplified every sensation, but the only sensation was love. There was only beauty. Unlike her experience with Lia, this time, her body and mind were open willingly, no pain, no trauma, or stomping of wills, just acceptance of all of me, and me of all of her.

It was transcendent, and how I could have ever doubted, doubted her, doubted us, I couldn't even comprehend now that I had tasted what her love was truly like.

I had just awoken in her arms, on the couch. She had stayed up all night as she ever did, but instead of another night of loneliness, of longing, of pain and incompleteness, she had me, and I was glad she had that, wanted her never to feel that again, wanted to be there for her always.

I had woken up feeling safe, feeling her scent on me, looking up and finding her narrow eyes and small mouth, both smiling at me with smouldering passion. It was still pitch black outside. I guess in her arms, time moved more slowly, which I appreciated, more time to spend with her, after all. I felt tired, like I hadn't slept at all, which I guess was sort of true, given what we'd been up to instead.

We just sat together on the couch for long hours, no thoughts in my head except for the smell of her hair and how beautiful she was to me, how precious and perfect I found her every flaw.

I stood up, making sure to tread on the unconscious Tem as I went. "I'm going to the bathroom," I explained, feeling like even the smallest separation demanded an explanation. She just smiled and let me go. Saga was understanding like that.

I wasn't sore, just...tired, like I'd been running all day, but I hadn't, I'd only just woken up. No matter, we'd probably spend most of the day cuddling in each other's arms, and I might sneak an hour or two of nap in.

A nap in her arms. I found myself grinning over the toilet. Today would be a beautiful day.

I came back and gave her a gentle kiss on the back of the head as I passed the couch. She smiled and radiated happiness. "I should probably eat some breakfast, huh?" I said, as I went into the kitchen.

Crap, I'd left the food out overnight. Our scant supplies, going to waste. If they didn't have mayo on them, I'd consider eating them still. Such a damn waste. Oh well, I wasn't really hungry even, though the last time I ate was yesterday afternoon. I guess I ran on the fruits of love now. I reached in the bag to pull them out and trash them, the fries in the bag were probably cold and nasty, but still edible, and paused.

They were still warm? The ones in the middle at least. But there was no way they'd sat out overnight and were still all warm.

"Saga, honey? Did you warm up the burgers while I was asleep?"

[Huh?] I felt her mind pass over mine. I waited patiently for the moment it took as she rifled through my recent thoughts. It was much faster than talking. [Oh. Um, yeah. They were uh, in the fridge though, so they're fine. I just uh...warmed them up. (However that makes sense)]

How considerate of her. I was a lucky man. I grabbed one, and a handful of loose fries, which were also not stale (I guess she had something to do with that) and put the bag back in the fridge. I threw my breakfast on a plate and headed back to her.

I unwrapped my burger and took in the heady smell, luxuriating on it so that Saga could drink it in. I liked to spoil her on the occasion I had the chance to. I felt her shudder slightly and her toes curl at the smell alone, and compulsively, I did the same.

Even though, I still wasn't really hungry.

I ate slowly, teasingly, nibbling small morsels of meat and rubbing my lips over the small buds of sesame seed on the buns. Sitting right next to her, our minds completely open, I saw an almost pained excitement on her blushing face as she panted. She was too focused on the moment and couldn't show any restraint, just how I loved her. In an inspired move, I ran my finger along the edge and eyed the shiny pool of mayonnaise and ketchup mixed on my finger.

Slowly, I pressed the finger into my mouth against my tongue and sucked on it. She opened her mouth as though to protest, but nothing came out but a muted cry as her eyes rolled and her eyelids fluttered to stay open. I felt the same sensation, and put the food down, all pretext gone.

I nibbled and licked at her as well, teasing her zipper downwards to unwrap her as I kissed my way down her neck as the opening collar exposed more and more of her shoulder. Unlike last time, last night, she seemed incapable of doing anything more than laying, breathing heavily through her mouth, and pressing her eyes closed.

I moved to her side to get a better angle on the middle part of the zipper's journey, but in so doing, tread on the unconscious Tem on accident. As I did, I felt Saga flinch, and half a moment later, felt pain in my own hand. We were all networked now, mind completely open, each sensation for all of us, no barriers between our thoughts, no existence between our beings.

"What should I do with her?" I asked.

Saga just shook her head and leaned further back, thoughtless and breathless, and I couldn't say no to the hint of pink on her cheeks, almost invisible now, along with all her cynicism and guardedness and suffering.

I continued to tease and tempt as I got her the rest of the way out of her prison uniform, liking her much better in this outfit. I was still fully dressed, still in my XPCA uniform for having no other clothes, and not out of it yet because she was enraptured, and my hands were busy. Very busy. I ran fingers up and down her slender legs, and felt her pulse racing in every part of her.

Finally, I kissed her, and almost whited out as my tongue wrapped around hers and in our echoed sensation, we were a thousand mouths giving a thousand kisses. It was so much more real and powerful than last night, I wondered how we had managed it so relatively lightly before. But we had, and we would again.

My finger traced the line of her stomach down past her navel, tickling both of us slightly, before encountering her prominent pelvic bones, and then…

Well, she was very excited. That much was obvious at just a touch. As slowly as I could, I explored the unfamiliar sensation of...being explored. She made a noise almost disapproving, but arched her back. I pressed deeper and…

...and nothing. There was no deeper. About an inch in, things just...ended.

I was confused. I probed deeper with my fingers and could feel nothing. No more space to fill, no nerve endings to feel, just...closed. Like she'd been sewn shut. My confusion flashed through her mind, snapping her out of her reverie.

To put it bluntly, where had the hole gone? It had been there yesterday, and had been very accommodating. So what had happened in the last day?

"Something wrong?" she whispered, her voice even more light than usual. In our state, I could feel it vibrating through her body through her. It was strange, but not uncomfortable.

"No," I lied, but that was pointless. I shook my head. "Yes. There's uh, no…"

"No what?" she asked, propping up on her elbows. She ran a finger over her things as though to verify and looked at me like I was doing this to her on purpose. "No what?" she repeated as she wiped her finger on the couch.

"No...um…" I blanked at how to explain the situation. As I did, I felt her mind, and Tem's mind by extension falling away. We were becoming ourselves independently again. I knew something she didn't, and that's not how having one mind could work. "I don't understand myself."

"You're scaring me, Athan," she said, closing her knees and drawing them in.

"But we did this last night, right?" She looked at me shiftily.

"Yes, of course."

"Do you remember," I asked her "...you told me you drank water?"

She nodded.

"And…?" I prodded.

"And I threw up. Because I don't have a stomach, it had--" She froze, and her eyes widened. "No…"

"But that's not possible, right? Because we just did it. This must be something else. Maybe Tem is making illusions in her sleep, or…"

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She held her head and brought her knees the rest of the way in, blocking me off from her entirely except her eyes and forehead. I could feel her emotions diving off an emotional cliff, and scrambled for any way I could to catch her, when my holo rang on my wrist. I jumped, startling her, and stepping on Tem again, who really needed to fucking not be there, and scrambled to hang up.

[(Who is that?)] she asked, her eyes still wide and unfocused.

I glanced at it as I fumbled it. "Uh, it's just Lia."

[Just...take it. (Take the call. Just take it. Take it.)]

I hesitated, but couldn't disobey her. I walked to the doorway and hit the answer button instead, putting my earpiece back in, and then remembering I had to turn it on.

"I'm sorry I didn't call sooner. I didn't get your message. I'm sorry, Athan, things have been crazy here." She was talking very fast, freaking out about something. I really didn't care, not when Saga was in distress.

"Can you call back later, Lia? I'm kind of busy."

"What? I thought you had an emergency?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not actually wanting her to answer.

"What?" She sounded confused and angry, all in one word. "Athan, is this a joke? I don't have time for this. You called me all panicking and saying you thought you made a huge mistake."

"I did no such thing," I said defensively. "I haven't talked to you since we visited yesterday. "Are you drinking again?"

She sputtered, and when she started talking again, it was a lot icier. "Athan, you asshole, AEGIS almost died."

"That rustbucket? Who cares?" I said, and walked back towards Saga. How was I supposed to care about any of these other girls when Saga was here, and suffering.

"Who...cares? Athan, are you insane? We were just packing up and getting ready to go and she kept shushing me as she listened to something, and then she just...dropped dead. I had to reboot her, Athan, she crashed hard."

"So everything's fine. Why did you call?"

"Athan, your friend almost died! If I weren't there, she'd be on an autopsy table, confusing the shit out of doctors right now. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I'm just busy. Now don't call me again unless something is actually wrong with someone I care about." I hung up.

Stupid idiot kids.

I went back to Saga who was exactly where I'd left her. Fetal position, eyes unsteady, naked. My heart broke seeing her like this. Someone so strong, so vulnerable.

"Why'd you brush her off?" she whispered.

"Who?"

"Lia."

"She said something about me calling and AEGIS crashing. I didn't understand."

"You mean, you didn't care."

"Well, also that, sure."

She looked at me accusatory, like I'd just stepped on her puppy instead of just Tem. "AEGIS is your friend," she said.

"Are you defending AEGIS? Why? You hate that stupid robot."

"I do...I guess...but the Athan I know would never turn his back on a friend like that."

I stared at her, a little incredulously. I went through my memories and couldn't remember a single time AEGIS and I had been 'friends'. She was a useful tool, and once I'd escaped my exile, I didn't need her anymore. As I went through memory after memory, I saw Saga looking shiftier and guiltier, with feelings to match wafting off of her, almost successfully concealed.

"Why are you looking so down? You didn't do anything," I said. "Not your fault the robot had a short-circuit."

"Yeah," she whispered, and her head sunk further behind her knees. "Can I have my clothes?"

"Are we done? Even if things are a little...unusual, there's still plenty I'd like to do with you."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," she said.

I reached out and held her narrow shoulders, cold now that she had spent minutes naked, and leaned in to kiss her. For an instant, I felt her heart race, and her mind and heart open as my breath touched her lips.

And then she turned her head and the moment closed.

"Weren't you tired?" she asked, as I hovered near the side of her head. She smelled like floral shampoo, and sex. I just wanted to drink her in forever.

I glanced at my holo. 22-something? I distractedly converted from military time to normal human hours. So that was...10am? Totally unreasonable time to already be tired. Even if I was, she needed me now.

"I want to spend all day with you, and then all night, and then all day again. Forever," I said, sitting opposite her, mirroring her posture with my chin resting on my knees. I took one of her hands and stroked it gently, putting some warmth back into it. Her hands, despite looking big, were only as large as mine, the rest of her was just that much smaller.

"Athan, stop saying things like that," she said, disgusted, and turning away again. She stepped off the couch, gingerly avoiding Tem, and stepped into her clothes, dressing with her back to me. "And stop staring."

"I don't understand," I said, not sure what I'd done wrong here. I hadn't meant to hurt her in any way. If this was just about her body, she had to know I didn't care, I loved her for who she was, without reservation, unconditionally.

As soon as I had that thought, she jolted as though stabbed, and jammed the zipper again. She swore, but I was there, wrapping my arms around her and deftly maneuvering the zip, whispering calming words into her ear as I rested my chin on her shoulder to see, and pressed myself against her cold back.

Again, to my surprise, she jumped away again. She looked mad now, and glared at me, teeth bared, hands in loose fists between us like she was going to hit me.

"What did I do?" I asked, completely lost, when just minutes ago, we were more intimate than any two people on Earth had ever been.

"Nothing!" she yelled back, as best as her voice allowed. "You did nothing, okay! Just stop. Stop...being so in love with me, okay?"

"I can't do that," I said reassuringly.

"I know," she sighed. I thought this was a good thing until she yelled it back at me again in her tiny raspy voice. "I know! I know, I know, I know!"

"I'm super lost. Are you unhappy? What can I do to help?"

"I…" she sighed and sat down on a recliner where I couldn't sit next to her. "I just need to do some thinking. Can you call Lia back and make sure everything's okay, please? And remember that AEGIS is your friend at least?"

"She's not, though."

"Then pretend, for me."

"I don't understand."

"And stop saying that. Just do it, okay?"

"Okay." I blinked at her as she stood up and slowly made her way upstairs. She didn't have to be a psychic for me to tell something was incredibly wrong with her. As soon as this call was over, I would join her. She obviously needed me now more than ever.

The call was about to go to voice message when Lia picked up.

"Gonna hang up again?" she sniped before I could say hello.

"Maybe if you keep talking like that."

"Dude, what the emu is wrong with you tonight?"

"Me? Tonight? It's 10am and you're calling me with stories of people you know I don't care about dying, and telling me I called you, and wasting time I could be spending with Saga."

I almost heard her mind click over the comms.

"You're with Saga?" she asked, suddenly a little too conversationally.

"Yes, and we were having a great time until you called and ruined everything."

"Athan, what time is it?"

"It's ten in the morning, I told you."

"So the sun's up?"

I glanced at the window and frowned. Still no sun. Was this Tem's doing?

"Why would you ask that?" I diverted.

"Dude, I don't want to scare you, but I think…" she stopped herself. "Athan, where are you now?"

"I'm...safe," I said warily. "Why are you asking?"

"Please just answer me. This is really important."

"No."

"No? Bro, it's me, Lia, your sister. Do you remember that?"

"Of course I do."

"But you don't remember that AEGIS is like, one of your best friends?"

"She was never one of my best friends, Lia."

There was a moment of silence where I could hear her shifting uncomfortably. It sounded like she was pacing. Damn girl could never sit still.

"Okay, I won't ask where you are, but are you planning to stay there long, and is there anyone there with you and Saga?"

"Just Tem, but I had Saga put her under." As I remembered she was there, I took out some of this angst by resting my foot on her face, feeling her hot breath between my toes. She coughed in her sleep as I partially obstructed her breathing. She'd survive.

"And you're going to stay there for a while? Nice relaxing time with Saga?" she sounded like she was finally understanding.

"Yeah. A couple days."

"Oh good. I hope you guys have a great time."

"Yeah, we will as soon as this call is over. Was there anything else?"

"No, nothing I think you'd care about. Hey, I'll see you soon, okay Athan? Hang in there."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I hung up.

I went upstairs and found Saga lying in the dark on her side, on the floor next to the bed. I frowned and picked her up, her breath catching at my sudden touch, even as I was impressed as ever by how light she was. I gently put her down on the bed.

"I don't need you saving me," she said.

"I choose to do it anyway, remember?"

I saw a small frown for a moment before she buried her face in a pillow.

She said something, but I couldn't understand.

"What?"

"Lay down," she repeated, moving the pillow to only cover her eyes. I cuddled next to her, and then fell onto my front as she moved away from me. "Athan, you've made lots of mistakes before. What if you could undo one of your mistakes, but are worried that doing so might be an even bigger mistake?"

"I don't understand."

"I told you to stop saying that," she practically growled, in her diminutive, airy voice.

"Okay. Well, uh." My mind cast around at random, trying to think of one of my mistakes. There were plenty to choose from, but finding a specific one worth talking about was hard.

"Mage died. I blame myself."

"She what?" Saga sat bolt upright.

"Um, yeah. That was the mistake. It sucked and I'd like to take it back. But--"

Saga was shaking her head. "That's impossible. She can't die."

"What?"

"She can't die. Her powers wouldn't allow for that. I only met her once, really briefly, at the top of the tower, but what I saw in her…" she shuddered. This wasn't where I had intended this conversation to go.

"I was going to say, I think she could see the future. So if she died, it was for a reason, I think. You asked if I would undo my mistake if it meant making a bigger mistake...I don't know why Mage let herself die, but she had a reason for it. If I undid that, I'd probably be making a bigger mistake somehow."

"No, you don't understand at all. Mage was a code-X like me, only her powers were completely different. Completely terrifying."

"I mean...yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Athan, you don't understand. The suffering I've lived through, that's like, literally a millionth of what she's endured, and she was only thirteen. She couldn't die. No, no, no. That's too fucked up."

I honestly didn't care about Mage, was just trying to talk with Saga and make her feel better, but it looked like I'd fucked up again.

"Did she say anything? Do anything? Never mind, this will be faster."

My mind was plumbed vigorously. I tried to enjoy the experience as Saga worked, feeling close to her for the first time since breakfast, but she was rifling through me like she was a burglar and I was a house which had personally offended her.

"She drank water? Fuck, she had to do that on purpose. But why?" I felt Saga's mind buzzing next to me. At least she this was a normal level of me not-understanding at this point. I waited patiently while she worked.

At some point, I woke up, and saw the morning sun and no Saga.