As they approached what would be their new home for the foreseeable future, TO was surprised by just how big their new ship was. A large half-sphere hung in space before them, covered in lines of lights and reflective windows. The bottom tapered inwards with a collection of triangular petals which would help anchor the ship when they landed on Arkane. Ten thick, flexible tendrils came out from the bottom of the ship, spreading out as though they were keeping the ship hovering in space
Their small transport ship approached the larger one from underneath, navigating through the centers of the tendrils. Up close,TO could see that the metal tendrils were actually the ship’s main thrusters. They seemed to have been designed so that they could move in almost any direction in space.
“Clever.” TO mused as they looked around, “With the thrusters like this, it’ll be easier to perform complicated movements in space. We can move in almost any direction too, given the shape of the ship itself.”
“They look so fragile.” DH said, “What if they get damaged.”
‘If there’s too much damage, we’ll be stuck. We’ll have to wait for a rescue. If the rescue doesn’t come, we’ll eventually run out of food and starve.’ The thoughts that ran through TO’s mind made them shiver, but they did their best to hide their fear. Still, they couldn’t hide how their ears pinned down and back. “There’s so many of them, I doubt losing one or two would cause too many problems, at least in the short term.”
A circle on the bottom of the ship opened up. The smaller transport slowed down and hovered in place, then rose until it connected to the larger ship.
A loud noise echoed from overhead just before the transport’s power cut off.
“We… We’re not inside?” DH asked, looking around, “I thought-”
Before DH could finish, the transport shuddered. They were slowly brought up into the ship above them, darkness overtaking them as their view of space and the area under the bigger ship fell out of sight. A moment later, dull blue lights came on to allow them to see. There was a beeping from the door in the back which continued for several minutes before a final long beep sounded out.
The door opened.
“Well.” TO said, “I guess we’re here.” They attempted to free themselves from their seat, fumbling with the straps as they were still trembling from the trip up.
At least the new ship seemed more secure, and didn’t shake so much. Well, at least it didn’t yet. The big ship hadn’t moved yet.
DH released themself from their seat, then got up and gently started to help TO with straps.
“Are you ok?” DH asked in a soft, calming tone as they undid the straps.
“I’ll be fine.” TO said, even though their voice was several octaves higher than normal, “I’ll be fine... I just... I don’t think I like space travel too much. It’s not at all like in training!”
DH’s ears twitched with confusion. “Really?” they said, “I thought it was pretty much the same.”
TO shook their head, but said nothing more. Maybe it was only because they kept thinking of the edacaeli out in space, or the cold vacuum that now surrounded them.
“Come on.” DH said, “Let’s get into the main ship. It’s bigger, so it should just feel like the training center, right?”
“Maybe.” TO said as they got up, taking a moment to steady their legs. DH was close, their arms out ready to catch them if they stumbled.
“I’m good.” TO said as they took a deep breath, “I’m good.”
“Alright…” DH said. They waved TO ahead of them, and followed behind as they headed to the back of the transport, and out through the door which now led to a dimly lit corridor. Another door at the end of the corridor opened up as soon as they approached, and they were temporarily blinded by the sudden, much brighter light that attacked their sensitive eyes.
“This doesn’t look like a place to live.” DH muttered as their vision cleared. Indeed, it did not. To TO, it seemed more like a waiting room. The large, T-shaped room had one double door right ahead of them which was lined in red lights to show that it was locked. Alongside the corridor that led to the locked door were two rows of uncomfortable looking seating which was attached to the wall. Separating TO and DH from the door and chairs was a work desk with a chair on the opposite side.
Down two shorter hallways was nothing but two more doors; these ones unlocked. As they stepped into the room, the door behind them closed and seemed to recede into the wall so it was now hidden from view.
“This can’t be where we’re going to live.” TO muttered, “The ship looked so big from the outside!” They ran past DH and headed to the first unlocked door to their right. When it opened all it showed was a set of three small holding cells. They turned and went to the other door, but saw only what looked like an interrogation room; a chair with straps to hold someone down, and an observation room with a two way mirror.
It looked like a security office and not like any kind of living accommodations.
“TO! Over here!”
TO turned around and saw DH pointing to something in the wall that they had missed; a small discrete chip reader. They pressed their chip to it and a hidden door in the wall opened up. TO rushed back and looked inside to see that it was an elevator. They breathed a sigh of relief as they followed DH into the small elevator.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“I was actually worried for a moment.” TO said. They looked at the floors and saw that there were a total of five floors that led upwards.
Five floors. Five whole floors! Would they have a floor each? What were the other floors for? TO reached out and pressed the button for the second floor. The elevator closed up and hummed as it led them to the next level. It came to a slow, gentle stop, and the doors soundlessly slid open.
The second floor looked more like what TO had been expecting. Their living area was basically one long hallway cluttered with furniture and equipment. On one end were two small bunks with large drawers for storage beneath. Before the beds there was a closet opposite a door which TO assumed led to the washroom. After the washrooms, there was a small table with chairs around it and a food dispenser in the wall. All of that took up one half of the living area. The other half had what looked like a medical bed with first aid supplies around it, then two work desks on opposite sides of the hall. At the very end of the hall there was a main control console with a screen before it. The screen displayed the space before them, with readings in blue to the side that displays the current Galactic Standard Time, their coordinates, and the temperature among other things.
“...It’s still bigger than our pods.” DH said after a moment. They stepped in and started looking around, poking at the beds and pulling out storage underneath, “All this seems modular, but it can be set to hold to the floor and walls, probably with individually activated electromagnets.“ They pulled the covers aside on the beds, “Oh, the blankets are thicker, and the beds feel softer than our in pods!”
“That’s good.” TO muttered as they looked around. There really wasn’t a lot of space; with all the furniture and equipment, the hall was just big enough for two synths to pass by one another, shoulder to shoulder. At the desks, they’d more or less be back to back if they were both working at the same time.
TO went to the washroom to see how much space that took. Maybe most of the space had been used for a nice shower and a tub! That would be a nice tradeoff. They opened the door to the washroom to see a narrow shower to their left, closed off with a frosted glass door. There was another door to their right, this one fully opaque, but when they opened that all they saw was a tiny sink and a toilet just like the ones in the training center– nothing more a hole set into the floor with water running through it.
“...This is less than ideal.” DH muttered as they looked in over TO’s shoulder. “We won’t be able to spread our wings in that shower.”
TO glanced up and saw that the showerhead was detachable. They pointed it out to DH, “That’s probably the only way we’ll be able to wash our wings properly.” they muttered.
No more long, luxurious showers. No more hot baths after long days. The only thing that this shower offered that the one in the training center hadn’t was some privacy via the doorway to the washrooms and the frosted glass pane.
Not that TO cared about privacy, especially since it was just them and DH there. Though, as they considered it, their mind raced back to the situation they had nearly found themself in when they woke up. With flushed ears, they realized that maybe the privacy might be good for them.
“Are you ok?” DH asked from behind them. TO turned around, coming face to face with DH. The space was so cramped and they were so close together that TO could feel DH’s breath on their face.
Was this the time? Was this the right time to tell DH? TO took a breath, their heart hammering and their ears twitching with anxiety. The words caught in their throat as their mind raced to try to say what they wanted.
How would they say it? They already said “I love you” to DH from time to time. Somehow, saying “I have romantic feelings for you.” Seemed awkward. Their breath stilled as their mind panicked.
DH’s ears flicked back, and suddenly moved away as they headed to the main console. “I wonder what this can do!” they said with exaggerated excitement. As they sat to examine the console, their ears sunk down. DH was bothered by something. Had TO done something wrong? Had they stared too long? Had they made DH uncomfortable?
As they wondered this, a low vibration suddenly ran through the ship; the engines were starting up. TO went to the main console and stood behind DH to watch the display before them. They nearly put their hands on DH’s shoulders but after DHs reaction to them, they kept their hands to themself.
The tendril-like thrusters were moving, slowing shifting and turning the ship, flexing and positioning themselves as blue flames burst from the ends. Suddenly, there was a loud, almost painfully low hum that seemed to come from above. The thrusters bent out of sight and the ship suddenly started to move, accelerating much faster than expected. TO was thrown off by the sudden force and fell backwards. DH turned to look and jumped up to help TO back up.
“I’m fine.” TO called out over the hum as they pulled themself up holding onto the wall to support themself against the continued acceleration, “I’m fine, just startled. I’m not hurt.”
DH gave a nervous chuckle as they settled back into their seat, “I suppose we should make sure we’re sitting down when that happens.” they said,
“I suppose.” TO said.
The humming continued for a moment before it died down; having acquired the right direction and velocity, the ship no longer needed the thrusters to be actively engaged. In the aftermath, the ship seemed so much quieter, and seemed to race smoothly and silently through space. The fainter sounds started to come back to them; the hum of electricity, the sound of one another breathing and moving, the clicking of unseen machinery behind the walls.
“... We should do our checks!” DH said quickly as they went back to the console. “I'll deal with the console, ok? I’m really good with managing the computers, so I can do all the computer checks from here if you want to check the other levels? We’ll get that done first anyway, then we’ll have our tasks for the first day done!”
On their first day, they weren’t expected to perform their physical training tasks, but they were expected to do their system checks. TO didn’t mind… But it felt like DH was trying to shoo them away.
“You... I thought maybe you’d want to check with me?”
“We’ll be done faster if we split the work.” DH said quickly, their back turned to TO as they started typing furiously at the console, “Besides, if this floor is anything to judge by, there might not be room on the others for both of us to check.”
“... Alright.” TO said slowly, grateful that DH couldn’t see how low their ears had drooped. They went back to the elevator, opened the door, but before they entered fully, they hesitated. Their hand clutched at the edge of the door as they remembered their promise to DH.
Their promise to DH, DH’s promise to them.
“... I didn’t upset you, did I?” They asked softly. They leaned out so that they could clearly see DH’s ears.
“No! Not at all!” DH said quickly. They turned to look at TO, “Why?”
TO felt their ears flush, “I just… no, It’s dumb-”
DH grinned at them, “And you know what I’ll say to that.” they said with a chuckle, “Didn’t I say the same thing earlier?”
TO couldn’t help but smile, “You’re right. I’m sorry.” they said, “I suppose..” They glanced aside, trying to ignore the burning of their ears, “I thought you wanted me away from you.”
“Never.” DH said firmly. “But I do want to get these tasks done, and I do think it’ll be faster and easier if we split the tasks.
TO nodded, and headed back into the elevator. They felt more at ease, but they still couldn’t shake how quickly DH had moved away from them just as they were trying to figure out how to tell them. Maybe DH did know how they felt, but because they loved TO they simply wanted to discourage them from pursuing more intimate, romantic expressions of love.
Maybe DH had guessed what TO had been about to do.
Maybe DH had suggested splitting up their tasks to put some space between them.
It didn’t matter… So long as they were together, it didn't matter if they had a romantic relationship or not… Right? TO was certain that they’d ultimately be happy if they could just be with DH. Still, thinking of DH turning them down, even in the gentlest of ways made their stomach hurt and brought stinging tears to their eyes. The only thing that made them feel better was the little seed of hope in them; the idea that maybe they had read the situation wrong. That seed of hope would stay so long as they never knew for certain.
Well, one way or another, they still had to tell DH how they felt. They had promised Avery that they would tell DH. Besides that, they were certain that DH would figure it out if they hadn’t already. Besides that, they didn’t know how long they could take this anxiety, this constant rise and fall of hope and happiness and sorrow. They didn’t know what would happen if DH didn’t reject them! How would things progress after that?! Maybe they’d be like C12 and Snout… but maybe it’d be different! Maybe they’d be like the civilian couples they saw in movies who ended up hating each other before they parted ways and never spoke to one another again!
TO would rather long for DH forever then have that happen.
TO had to tell them.
TO didn’t want to tell them.
The elevator door closed and TO was carried up to the next level of their ship.