Fri stood at the top of a tall building; it was so high that it was hard to breathe. The pressure of the environment around her stole her breath away. In these moments, Ryuu seemed all the more inhumane. She struggled to breathe, her lungs being squashed by the pressure of the atmosphere while he seemed utterly unbothered. They said that it was rare to find someone unmodified in thier time. And she sometimes wondered why her parents had left her completely natural. They made thier way to what looked like a regular car. The black metal shone brightly under the sun's rays. She was all but dragged to the vehicle by a guard she was unfamiliar with. She would have been offended at any time other than this, but today, she was thankful for the robotic muscleman.

As they neared, the sleek black doors of the vehicle opened up. Ryuu sat down effortlessly. Every movement seemed out of a magazine. Fri could imagine cameras around him taking photos. Fri was far from graceful. She basically fell into the car on the verge of blacking out, helped by the robot security man who seemed to almost pity her. The doors closed, and the vehicle pressurized. The pressure lifted for the first time in what seemed like forever, and she could take a deep breath. She slumped against the window, enjoying the cool sensation against her skin.

"It's your first time flying, huh?" he asked as he pressed a myriad of flashing buttons.

"Yes," she replied weakly, feeling entirely out of her element. Fri stared, trying to understand the logistics of what he pressed.

"I know you have a romanticized idea of flying, but usually, the first few times are uncomfortable," Ryuu grimaced as he spared her a glance. The engine of the starship turned on with a quiet hum, and moments later, they took off.

"In a few minutes, we will enter hyper-drive. I want you to pick something to focus on, and don't take your eyes off that thing. It'll help you deal with the distortion of space." His eyebrows were pressed together in deep thought. Fri wanted to reach out and smooth out the wrinkles like she had all those years back.

He loosened his tie. " To think that after all these years, we would return to wearing suits," he grumbled.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, looking at him. His hair was messier than usual, loose strands falling into his face. And then, her body was pushed back with an extreme invisible force. In her peripheral vision, she could see the blending of colors, curiosity calling for her to look, but she kept her eyes locked on him. She looked at his lips. Had she really kissed these lips before? Yes, it was a little before they were demoted to one when she had confessed to him, but his lips had never been just hers. He always had someone around, lovers, sex friends, sometimes multiple at once, fueled by drugs and alcohol. Knowing or seeing the aftermath of such events always hurt her back then, and god knew she had seen most. It almost seemed like he had taken delight from calling her after and seeing her horrified, heartbroken face. Fri knew that her face showed all her emotions.

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Pleasure was his cardinal sin, and loving him had been hers. How had she gotten herself so lost in such a horrible person? She had been drunk on her feelings towards him, and then it seemed that no matter what he had done, she would have still loved him. Apparently, she had been wrong.

"You can look around now," he said. She glanced away and noticed they were flying next to a vast structure. As they flew near the station. It was so large she could not see where it ended or began—a giant metal beast with countless windows through which she could see people moving about.

The intercom came on, "Mr. Sapos, the dock is ready for landing."

A large opening opened in the belly of this beast, and they flew in. Ryuu landed the starship smoothly. A man came to take their luggage, and Ryuu guided her through the station's turning hallways and elevators. They had landed on the residency side, so they walked through hallways decorated with paintings and brass wall lights, passing door after door. Finally, he stopped in front of a door, this one metal, unlike the others that were wood. He put his palm against the scanner, and the door opened.

Lights turned on in a large open room, with different levels for a dining space, a makeshift living room, and a huge bed, all in front of the scenery of space. Windows running from the ceiling to the floor. She stared in awe, unmoving momentarily, taking it all in. Fri had never imagined she would get to see something like this. After one, she lost all hope of traveling at all, not out of NNNY and certainly not off the planet.

The dress that had been chosen for her was a long red gown that seemed to hug every crevice of her body. The dress, much more noir than she was used to, was embedded with dark silver gems, a high neckline, and an open back. It had been packed in a container with small heels and earrings that matched the silver stones on the dress. Wasn't this too much? She hated standing out, and this- well, it certainly made an impression, not one she was comfortable making, not one in this situation. Fri could already imagine the horde, the questions, and them.

"Ryuu," she called out, and he hummed back in response.

"Isn't this a little too much?" she asked.

"No, I think it's just enough." He came out of the bathroom dressed in a suit. The jacket was a deep red velvet that complimented his hair and was embroidered with bright blue gems. The blouse was creamy white with a ruffled neck. He straightened the jacked and grumbled, "When will this atrocious style go out of fashion?"