Looking up to the ember painted sky, it was an early Friday night, what was he going to do with it? Back on earth he would have planned out doing his homework and projects for the weekend, then promptly start on not doing them. After succeeding at doing less then the bare minimum, he would have headed out for a drink and maybe watch a game or something. He had friends a while ago, but after his depression got the best of him, he fell behind. When they graduated and moved off, he was still around. As for other people, well he couldn't blame them for not wanting to be around that.

Here, though, what was there to do? Sure, there were pubs and bars, even various games and other sources of entertainment, but he never seemed to be quite welcome. There were a few times he had tried, but they never seemed to go well. Like when he went to the market by himself and was chased out. At the time he had assumed it was because he was just an outsider, but more and more the realization that his race just wasn't welcome weighed on him.

There was the theater. He had been there a few times and they always seemed welcoming, of course Luna had been with him, that probably made it easier. It didn’t matter anyway, the theater wasn't cheap, and he didn't have the coins assuming they did even let him in. The same went for any of the other upscale entertainment.

The castle was an option, he supposed. For the first year he was there they fed him, and even entertained him a bit. There was an entire orchestral group that lived in the castle just for their events, and entertaining guests of the state. Yet, they were always willing to practice before the princess, and consequently him.

His feet began to move on their own, as he wandered about the yard, subconsciously maneuvering to the castle after thinking about it.

He wasn't much of a reader in either world, but Coruscis had literally thrust her entire library on him as an apology. He took those books and read some of them. If you define reading as skimming and if you further define skimming as glaring at a page while his eyes glazed over. At least he read them as best as he could, the language here was similar enough to his own, but the script was just too different.

Neal never did forgive the rabbit, Coruscis and her constant attempts made it hard to deal with her. It was an accident, and he knew that but still, it was a challenge to interact with the rabbit. She was after all the cause of him being in this world.

This wasn't his world nor his home and the truth was he didn’t want to be here. Of course, he didn’t want to be on Earth either. A new thought skulk from his darker thoughts, after all this time was his family still looking for him back there, for that matter did they even start? Perhaps that was the saddest part of all, there was no love between his family and him, but the fact that he never even got to say goodbye hurt in a way that words could not explain.

The castle guard was in transition as he wandered through it. A handful of Solar Guard lingered, but the Lunar Guard had already been set up. This squad was different from his own. Occasionally, they interacted but for the most part they were separate, and they were charged with protecting the castle itself. Unlike Sable's squad which existed to protect the Night Court, primarily. Occasionally though, you might still see a Solar Guard around and on patrol. A testament to how little they trusted in their sister branch.

A few of the Lunar Guard glanced his way, but none were particularly keen on conversing with him. A combination of being on duty and just not being interested in talking to the human. They were strangely cold towards him compared to when he first arrived, and he still wasn’t used to it. A couple did give a courtesy nod at least. It was strange how much their attitudes changed after he moved out of the castle for his apartment. Maybe it was just because he wasn't attached to Luna's side anymore. They could now let their true feelings show through.

It was true he did want to leave the castle, to have his own place and start standing on his own in this world. Though it also didn't feel like it was much of a choice, the castle has begun to feel more like a prison then the initial resort it started as.

Walking through the castle hallways at night was always a bit haunting. Sometimes there were larger receptions in the great hall, and it would echo through the rest of the space. The hallways bouncing the sounds of music and voices, twisting them into a distorted melody of shadows. The princess and queen were always very nice and accommodating, but they made it clear he should stay away from that area when things were going on, unless explicitly invited or on duty.

Anyway, the rumbling in his stomach showed what he was truly interested in right now, the kitchen. Like many nights it was bustling and busy, chefs and cooks ran about. Carrying ingredients, chopping others, grilling, sautéing, in other words generally cooking. The sounds of the evening chef doing his best Ramsay impression brought a familiar smile to Neal’s face.

The chef was a rather plump dark elf; someone Neal had the pleasurable misfortunate of working with in the past. "Queen Luminis save me, I'm surrounded by morons." The chef spoke with his head between his hands. On noticing Neal wandering in, his head picked up, slightly.

The plum grey skinned elf glared at the human who dared intruded into his domain. "Well, if it isn't the princess' pet. What do you want human, we're busy."

They weren't pushy about feeding him normally. Something Luna probably had a hand in. "Honestly, I was just looking for something to eat." He spoke truthfully. Though as he looked around, Neal realized the space was a chaotic mess, more so than usual.

"But, maybe you could use a hand?" Neal inquired.

"You fiery fool!" The chef's eyes went wide, and he stared right past Neal. "What part of indirect heat didn't you understand? Indirect, not touching, like how your wife isn't touching balls at night… Move over!" The dark pushed the much lighter skinned elf out of the way, pulling away the pan he had over the flame.

"I could have used you two hours ago. These cooks are all new, barely know their way around a spoon let alone a knife. At least you know how to chop."

It was true, In another life, Neal had been a cook after his parents insisted on him paying rent when he was between high school and college. Even in college he would moonlight as one for a little extra cash. In truth, he was pretty decent at it, maybe in another lifetime he'd have gone to school to be a chef instead of trying to match his siblings in engineering and the sciences.

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"If you're looking for food, you can take some of the kabobs back there. But if you want any of this desert, you're going to help clean this mess."

The offer was tempting, chef Coquo knew how to bake sweets like few others. By the looks of it, there were some kind of fruited crepes in creation. Maybe he'd come back later and see what was left over.

The kabobs tasted something of beef and peppers, but with hint of something else he just couldn't place, something foreign no doubt. After his run earlier the high protein and fat dish hit his stomach just right. Wandering the hallways, he passed several large windows that looked out onto the dreaming courtyard. It wasn't the first time he had stopped to stare at it. Like many things in this world, he didn't understand it.

Sure, there were aesthetics there, people of all races like pretty things and well-maintained greenery. Which is why this place seemed odd to him. Parts were clearly taken care of, but others, particularly around the statutes, just weren't. What was the point? It seemed like almost ritualistic neglect. Again, the question echoed in his mind, 'Why would they?'

"You seem lost." A familiar voice called to him from the hallway. She was wearing one of her darker dresses, with a silver white trim. In the times he had seen her dressed up, this was a common outfit for the princess. A moderately formal dress. Likely implying that whatever the gathering was, it wasn't too important.

"Just thinking about something one of my squad mates said to me. She asked me a question about something I thought was obvious."

His puzzlement peaked her interest, "Hmmm, it's not like you to brood on queries. What's on your mind?"

"Well, it's…” he struggled to think what he actually wanted to ask, “Luna, what does war look like here? Like, real war."

Her face held a moment of shock as her blue eyes opened wide. "My, that's not a question I was expecting."

Twisting her head a few times in thought, she gave a quick sigh before explaining "Well, 15 years ago there was the battle of the two queens. There were three decisive battles and various skirmishes. We won of course, and my sister stopped me and Coruscis from sealing away the Ice Queen."

"But, what about the battles, what did they look like? I guess what I’m asking is, how many died?"

"What a macabre question. I guess, seven over all of them. The armies were, large. A few thousand on each side for each battle."

Neal could only shake his head in return, "It just sounds so weird to me. On my world, given your numbers there would have been at least hundreds of dead, maybe more." He paused lost in thought, waiting for her to say something.

"That… is a lot. But our worlds are different, why does it matter?"

"I'm supposed to be a soldier for Illania, for you. But I don't know what that actually means. As a soldier in my world, I knew what was expected, but here. Everything is so alien. I feel like a monster in paradise." Another point he didn't mention was how everyone's gaze and whispers added to that.

As the two stood in the moonlight, a subtle sound of tiny claws and paws on the floor took them away from the conversation they were having. A rat, had crawled from the walls, and was making it's way towards some of the crumbs Neal had dropped.

Without even thinking about it he reached his foot out to crush the pest with his boot.

However, the look of horror on Luna's face froze him in place. She could see what he was going to do and it was like she was staring at a monster. It pierced right though him and hurt his very soul. "You will do no such thing Neal! Put your foot back down, gently."

Luna carefully held out her hand to the scared furry creature. While Neal reached for a torch hung on the wall just in case it bit her. Instead, the small entity climbed into her hand quickly and without any fear. The subtle sounds of content squeaking emanated from the tiny creature as she softly stroked its head.

“A long time ago, I used to keep rats as pets. Just a few mind you. It was considered inappropriate to have large animals in our presences at the time. So I had to make do with hiding a few small ones.” She was smiling at the furry creature. Neal was struck with just how beautiful that smile was, she was beautiful, not just on the outside. Suddenly the weight of what he was going to do fell on him. Maybe he really was a monster.

She continued. “They don’t live very long you know. Maybe a few years if well cared for. I knew enough healing magic that I could extend their little lives, just a bit past that. But none of them made it beyond 5… It never got easier to lose them." Her hand continued to gently pat the creature's head, and she cupped her hands around it's torso, very carefully without any force. Without asking, she grabbed the last of Neal’s kabob and held it in front of the tiny guest who was more interested in the food than escaping her grip. "Come on, lets get him outside. I’m sure he’d be happy to be the rest of his friends out there.”

The hallways remained deserted, aside from an occasional guard who didn't question why the princess was carrying a rat nor why she was being followed by her ‘pet’ human.

As she let the creature down about two hundred steps from the castle entrance, it turned on two legs to look at her. A few tiny squeaks seemed to call back to her, as if saying thank you for the food. Maybe Neal was just reading too much into it. It dropped back to the ground and scurried away into the field between the castle and city. Off to one of the many colonies hidden in the night.

Neal continued to watch the field as subtle winds moved the grasses around in a midnight dance. His mind was lost in thought as he considered how alike he and the rat were.

Luna turned to walk back inside but stopped when she realized Neal wasn’t following her, "You coming back inside? I could have them find a suit for you. The ball is nearing an end anyway I doubt anyone would say anything.”

Luna's offer wasn't really tempting. He had seen the aristocrats of Collisviridis enough to know how fake they all were. He also knew Luna would refuse any of his efforts to dance. She was the only reason he might have attended, and with her out of reach, what was the point.

A blue rabbit poked her head out of the castle doors. Seeing the bookworm coming out, forced Neal into a scowl as he cemented his desire to leave and wandered in the direction of his apartment. Which was thankfully the opposite direction from the rabbit.

"Neal." Luna called out, and paused to hear what she had to say. "Have a good night, sweet dreams."

With a nod, he continued his walk away from the annoyance that interrupted his goodbye with Luna. A few of their words carried over the field as he made his way. He didn't care how sorry she said she was.

Both his belly and mind were full. It was an uncomfortable feeling, sitting in silence in the small apartment. For the second time today, he wished he had grabbed his phone before he left a year ago. Some music would be nice right now.

Wandering about, he gathered his armor pieces. It wasn't like he had done much, but his armor was already scuffed and scratched. Probably just because he wasn't taking care of it. That was something he could do, he supposed. When he was handed his armor, he was also given a waxy bar with a special cloth wrapped around it. The quarter master called it Armor Soap.

With the waxy soap, he finally set to work on something he should have been doing at least once a week. As he worked around the metal, a few brownish splotched stood out. Not just scuffs but rust too. With a sigh, he pushed hard into the armor with the cloth and wax. This was going to take a while to fix, but he could manage so long as he kept at it.

A single thought kept twisting in his head, 'Why would they?' This world made no sense to him.