The drive wasn’t very long. Despite that, I felt anxious. There wasn’t really any reason for that. I’d known Matt for, what, three years now? Give or take a bit. I’d laughed with him, drank with him, and held him in my arms as he sobbed.

Despite that, I was still anxious to meet him.

I gave a long sigh and loosened my grip on the steering wheel. Back when I’d first got my license, driving was the best thing ever. I remembered that the freedom it gave was incredible. Even just the ability to leave the city quickly and at my own time was… incredible. There was no way for my parents to track me, either.

It was just me in the seat, driving on empty, sometimes dilapidated roads. I also remembered that I once hit a pothole, and popped a tire. My spare was faulty, and I had to get help to come out. So I called my dad, who answered entirely drunk off his ass, unable to even understand what I was telling him, then my mom, who didn’t pick up at all.

Eventually, Ivan drove out, showed me how to change a tire. He was on call with me the entire time until he arrived, and fixed the issue that had sent me worrying within 5 minutes. I smiled at the memory.

After another few deep breaths, eventually, I fell into the rhythm where I stopped worrying and started focusing on the road. Within a quarter hour or so, I was at the train station. It made me a bit early, and a quick check online told me that the train was late. There was a text from Matt informing me of the same thing, and I sent him a thumbs up back.

While waiting in the car, I briefly considered pulling up things to read, but eventually decided that I didn’t really feel like it. Instead, I got out, standing next to the car so Matt could see me, and stared at the sky for a little while.

Back when I was a kid I used to watch the clouds drift by. Now, well, I guess I watched the cloud layer change thickness as the breeze blew. Occasionally, small parts grew thinner, letting more sunlight through, then became covered in smog again.

I sighed. I already felt myself missing the sky on Eden, the sun on my skin. Which made me sigh again, because I knew that I would be spending some more time on this side.

It’s not like I hated it here. Especially if my flat looked a little better, I was sure I could make it tolerable. But I just didn’t feel quite as free.

Considering the fact that the keepers were after my soul, I also really wasn’t free at all.

That thought was luckily interrupted by the soft humming of the train coming to a stop. Our city had changed from steel tracks to magnetic ones a while back, and the soft hum told me that it had begun braking.

I looked over, seeing the doors open at one of the many platforms, only a third of which were actually in use. Well, more often now than they’d been a while ago. Planes were so popular a few years back, until virtually every country on this damn planet had banned them. Absolute pests, those were.

Most intercontinental travel nowadays happened through tunnels, and sometimes ships, which used wave generators and solar to power themselves. As far as I knew, some also used materials from Eden to generate energy in some other way, but it wasn’t my job to know how. Ivan could probably explain it. He wouldn’t call them from Eden, though, and instead just say something like a new discovery.

Once again, my thoughts were interrupted as I saw Matt step out of the train. He looked… just the same as usual, but very distinctly different. There was something very, very strange about seeing him in khakis and a beige suit. He caught my gaze for a moment, and I swore I could see him turn a little red before he headed down the stairs towards the exit.

When he came out, he quickly made his way towards me.

“Look, Fio, I can explain the fash-” he started, but I just wrapped him in a hug.

“Hey Matt. Good, nah, actually, great to see you,” I said.

He paused for a moment, frozen, then hugged me back. “Good to see you too, Fio.” After a handful of seconds, we let go again, and he gave me a smile. “You look great, by the way.”

I grinned. “I sure do. Sadly, I must seem a bit out of place in this… what, 80’s movie set?” I said, pointedly eyeing his outfit.

He blushed again. “My parents thought this was what people around here dressed like. They needed me to make a good impression.”

“Still living in that dojo, huh?” I asked, softer this time, already hopping into the car.

“Yeah. My dad insisted I bring gifts, too. Can you imagine that I have a shinai, a bamboo sword, and an invitation to the dojo for you in that suitcase?”

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I raised an eyebrow. “That fits in there?”

He sighed. “Diagonally, and barely. He made it himself, too. Usually he has each student make their own, but he didn’t want you to craft one without his oversight, so he went through the effort to put it together himself. You know how much he grumbled about having to use stored bamboo since there wasn’t enough to properly have it dry before I headed off?” Matt shook his head in frustration.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Your dad sure sounds like a piece of work.”

“He is. He truly means well, but he now also truly expects you to come to the dojo at some point.”

“Hah. Well, I’m sure I could learn something there.”

Matt chewed his lips. “Finally, he wanted me to tell you that he most certainly respects you practicing the spear, but believes you should certainly collect some experiences in using the sword. I think he wants you to swap, the persuasion usually only starts this soft. Excuses about all the spiritual training and stuff, when really, he just wants you to swing a sword and see your talent.”

“I’m sure I’d disappoint him, heh. Just barely above average.”

Matt stared at me, then shook his head. “U-huh. Average. You, sure. My mom already smacked him over the head for it, telling him to stop being weird, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“... How hard was the smack?”

“Like a seven outta ten. That’s pretty hard mind you, probably more like a nine on a normal person’s scale, but I have seen her whack him with an umbrella before.”

“Oh?”

“The umbrella broke.”

“Oh, hahaha! Did he deserve it?”

“I am against physical violence,” Matt said, sagely closing his eyes and crossing his arms as he leaned back in the seat. “But yes, absolutely.” He nodded.

I smirked to myself, now unsure of why I was ever worried about meeting this goofball, “You got normal clothes with you, too?” I asked, changing the topic somewhat.

“Yes, I snuck a couple shirts and jeans in.”

“Good. Otherwise, I would’ve taken you shopping. I mean, we absolutely still can, if you want to, though?” I asked.

“Absolutely. Know any good places for earrings? I want some for myself and my mom asked for a souvenir," Matt said, throwing me a smile. He was, in fact, already wearing earrings, though they were hard to see through his hair. Now that he was actively showing them off, though, I could see them. He wore an ace flag and a demiboy one.

I smiled. “I already love the ones you’re wearing. You sure you need any different ones?”

He laughed a little, more of a snort. “Absolutely. Anything that isn’t silver, gold, or gemstone is intolerable at family meetings.”

At that, I gave him a grimace. “Ah.”

“Grandparents,” he said with a shrug. “Very traditional. Man must marry woman, and all that.”

“Mhm. Guess I’m lucky my parents were supportive about that, at least.”

Once again, Matt gave a snort, this one mixed with a little anger. “That’s about the only thing you lucked out about.”

I gave him a sad smile. “Actually, they’re… not horrible. You know how it is, you only hear the bad things.”

“Aha. I’m sure.”

“On that note, you might be meeting my dad in just a little bit. He’s coming over to help me with some work in the flat.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. “Work in your flat? Didn’t you say it was pretty… empty?”

I gave him a glance and a half-hearted shrug. “Changing that today.”

He grinned. “Oho? Suddenly worried about my opinion?”

“Pfff, nah. I decided that if I’m going to live there for a little while, I may as well make it look good.”

“So you’re saying you don’t care about your mom snooping anymore?” he asked, ruthlessly.

“... Yeah, okay, you’re right. That is what I’m saying. I’m excited about the flag, though.”

Matt’s face lit up. “No way it’s what I’m thinking.”

“No, Matt, I didn’t get a swordsman-”

“You’re getting a lesbian flag?!” he interrupted cheerfully. I kinda stopped for a moment, surprised. He really had me that figured out? “Fuck yeah, Fio. That’s awesome.”

I gave a small smile, my face reddening a little. “Doesn’t it usually annoy you?”

He looked at me, eyes wide and aghast. “What?” I saw the gears in his head turning, then it clicked. “Oh. Oh my god. No, no, not at all. I just. I struggle with PDA. It’s an ace thing. Well, for me, at least, more of an aroace slash sex repulsed thing. I promise it has nothing to do at all with you or Ann. You two are amazing.”

Once again I had to take a moment to compute that. Luckily, we were at a red light, so I had the time to look over at him. He was looking back at me with genuine, full on, sincerity in his eyes. “I, uh, I was joking.”

He flushed. “Oh. Oh, this is awkward. Sorry, uh, I just, I dunno. Want you to feel supported.” He scratched the back of his head. “It feels, uh, a little more real over on this side, I suppose.”

By then, the light turned green and I drove forward again. The awkward silence lasted another dozen seconds before I had to start laughing. “You’re a lot more adorable than I thought, Matt!”

“H-Huh?” He blushed even more.

I let out a somewhat contented sigh, leaning back in the car seat. “Thanks, Matt. Means a lot to have you be there for me.”

He fiddled with the buttons on his suit jacket, taking a couple deep breaths, then threw me a smile. “Of course, Fio. We’re friends, after all.”

I resisted the urge to smack his shoulder, and instead kept my hands on the steering wheel, focusing on the road. “I appreciate that. For what it’s worth, I support your aroaceness, too, yeah? Now, stop being so distracting and let me focus on driving before I crash the car.”

He smiled, looking at the empty roads and sidewalks ahead. “Alright, Fio.”

We spent the rest of the drive in comfortable silence.