Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“… what, in the name of Gaylen’s core, did you just tell me?”

This was it. This was the remaining of his patience being consumed, this was the last time he could allow his suspension of disbelief to operate. This was the largely celebrated drop that happened to fracture the poor earthling animal’s behind – since on this planet everything had to be this savage. This prince had let a lot of things be since he had landed here several delsons ago, it was an absolute understatement: starting from the naturally disgusting biological existence of the inhabitants of this place, all the way to the constantly contradictory way of communicating that said creatures had ended up establishing for some unknown reason – how could you call someone sick and not bring him to a healer, where was the logic?

Yet he had ignored such matters, or rather he had tried to accept them. Because Krel himself was anything but ordinary, he knew that Earth had more in common with him than he would have thought at first impression. He now understood concepts that he had been unfamiliar with before, he got closer to many types of people that were now his first friends. It had been a shocking experience that was far from over, one that had taught him more than his entire life back at his home planet.

With that being said, the imaginary line humans tended to scream so much about had to be drawn somewhere – he wasn’t sure where, again earthlings were vague and inconsistent. He wasn’t going to accept any more buffoonery than this, it was truly his limit.

While immerged into this slow and steady mental breakdown, somehow seeing his boyfriend breaking down into the most exaggerated laugh ever felt appropriate. Annoying, but appropriate.

At time it was hard to remember, but Seamus could be extremely irritating when he wanted to.

“I… I just- Pff-” The blonde definitely wished for nothing more than get on his nerves right now, he was so caught up in the humorous act he was resuming to hold onto the counter to not fall down. “I- I said that… t-temperature…!” He was squinting his eyes so much. There had to be some kind of explanation about how, once a human was completely absorbed into the laughing action, they could barely manage to come back from that state. There also had to be a clarification about why this guy being this openly gleeful, with red cheeks and lucid eyes, was giving such a hit at his core.

… he knew the reason of at least one of those topics.

How pretty was his boyfriend wasn’t going to distract him this time though. Especially now that this Akiridion had decided to deny any more nonsense into his life. Krel had been left into a catatonic state of unbelieving right when he had opened the oven, a wave of heat flowing onto his widened eyes. He closed it a bit too forcefully maybe, marching towards the still laughing human.

“I asked you a precise question, answer me! And I hope I have misheard you previous statement, you math blonde, or else there will be consequences!” More snickers arrived, the prince grabbed the guy’s shoulders and glared into his face. “Speak if you dare! You better not be fooling me!”

“I… I said…” Seamus breathed in deeply. “I said that’s not… the only way we measure temperature here.” He bit his lip to prevent another fit of laughter, producing a chocked sound.

Krel gaped. He slowly let go of him, blinking a few times.

This was it. This was truly it.

“What?!?” Great Gaylen have mercy on these somewhat evolved amoebas, they knew little to nothing and what they knew was beyond ridiculous. “Why, in light of all that is good in the universe, would you measure temperature in more than one way?? It’s temperature!!” He pointed at the oven, the most standard heating machine he had ever seen in his life. “You told me you use fair-nights to calculate, which is confusing enough and not quite as fair as it sounds, but at least they are effective! How can you make an efficient scientific system without having the same measuring units??” This was beyond the culturally different concepts of Earth that him being from another planet couldn’t comprehend. No, this was knowledge, this was science.

And this planet’s was absurd.

Seamus looked close to faint, his face was almost unnaturally red, but he looked way too involved and amused to be on the edge of unconsciousness. Instead, he wiped away those embarrassing laughing tears, took another breath and shrugged. This guy shrugged.

“It just kinda happened?” Krel’s eye twitched.

“Excuse me?”

“Look, history happened that way.” Oh great Gaylen why, why was everyone here somehow keen on the idea that saying ‘it occurred sometime in the past’ was a convincing argument? “Centuries ago a scientist invented the Fahrenheit scale basing his concept over the lowest he could get a mixture of water and salt to go and the average human body temperature… a very incorrect average body temperature.” He giggled, again, and this boy was very lucky the prince happened to love that laugh. “Years later another scientist invented the Celsius scale, which is more intuitive, so most of the world has switched to that. But some countries didn’t, ours included.”

Seklos and Gaylen, only on this planet missing the ground by a few miles during the landing would have made such a big difference. Getting stranded on Akiridion-5 would have never been this complicated… perhaps because over there lived beings capable of thoughts able to realize the need to make a convincing and shareable measuring system!!

Krel shook his head, again and again, because there had to be a limit. There had to be.

“Kleb, I got stranded on the only place where for some reason there is disagreement on adopting the internationally used measuring system.”

“Actually, Celsius isn’t in the International System of Units. Neither is Fahrenheit.”

“… what, in the name of Gaylen’s core, did you just tell me?” Seamus’ face reddened again of pure glee, and at this point the prince was almost forced to grab his shirt out of despair. “There are three?! Not only you fail to unify your entire klebso of a planet through basic science, you also pull in another type of measuring?!? How can you even begin to fathom the idea of bringing forward a realm filled with peace and connections if you can’t even agree if the water is boiling or not?? Stop laughing this is serious!!”

“Ahah, my stomach hurts!” The blonde was almost falling down. He leaned his head in the crook of the prince’s shoulder, holding onto him with shaking hands. “C-Calm down, okay? It’s… fine…!” He held onto him, laughing near his neck, and it was almost an off button for Krel’s irritation. His mind stopped hurting because of idiocy, and he took a deep breath.

As always, this guy held a power onto him like no one else… but the prince was still right. That no one could take away, not matter how nicely warm this felt. He rolled his eyes as he hugged back.

“Your planet is ridiculous.”

“My planet uses Kelvin for scientific fields, so if you wanna begin experimenting here you better start liking our universal measuring units.” That wasn’t particularly comforting – why calling it universal when it was barely about Earth anyway? “Besides, I recall a certain Akiridion prince moving here once and for all, so don’t think you can throw at me all of this place’s nonsense.” He looked at him with those celestial eyes, filled with amusement and fondness. “How about you start by saying… ‘our’ planet is ridiculous?” Now he was red for a motivation way more entertaining than this measuring confusion.

Whatever, it wasn’t like Krel was going somewhere with this discussion. Although he found out that venting was quite the exhilarating experience, pulling out all thoughts and sensations felt like getting rid of a big dark spot from his core. Without the palace in the way, talking with Aja had felt much more personal. Now she was back there, and he had stayed here, going beyond any disbelief.

To listen to him now, was the guy that had stayed despite everything.

Wow. Everything changed. He never thought he would have been this happy about it.

“Very well. Our planet is ridiculous.” The mockery tone didn’t come out right, they were both smiling too much for it to be offensive. The whistling of the pot called the blonde back to the stove. Right, they were doing some pretty meaningless chemistry over here. “Speaking of, how is it possible to push a frivolous activity such as nutrition to this extent, while staying lightkeltons behind on the technological level?” It was both a genuine question and another unresolved situation of his – after that one temperature rant he had no filter left.

Seamus raised a massive eyebrow at him, as he was stirring the weird concoction. It had a brownish red tint, it wasn’t supposed to be an appetible color – according to his very little knowledge regarding aesthetics –, yet the scent alone made it seem palatable.

The blonde took a spoonful of the mixture and extended it to him.

“Try it and see if you’ll still call it frivolous.” Krel blinked. He leaned onto the spoon and took it into his mouth. The moment the flavor hit his brain his eyes were wide open.

“… great Gaylen, I am so sorry.” Not as widened as the blonde’s though, as if he hadn’t expected that reaction at all. Even so, after taking in the unexpectedness, a beautiful smile took its place on him. “What is it? You asked me to taste it, how can you make fun of me now?” It didn’t look like the usual playful competitiveness, it was more like… the face of an unexpected event so good it left Seamus speechless. Was that it? Or was it another missed cultural aspect of being human? It wasn’t unlikely, despite his permanence there were many things he wasn’t awar-

Ah, no, he was right. The moment the reddening hit his ears, the blonde looked away, fingers tightening around the spoon in his hand. His lips were trembling, refraining from most likely turn into a much wider grin.

“I’m not, it’s just… I never would’ve thought that one day I would’ve fed my fateful rival like this. It’s a pretty… couple-y thing to do here.” He really was mad red.

Adorable. So adorable. Krel smirked.

“Perhaps I am finally catching up with the concept of romance?”

“You’re learning… pretty well. Even too well sometimes, but I’m not complaining.” Seamus let the spoon down and took him between his arms. It was a safe, comfortable zone to be in. “You’re a natural, like you’re a natural at everything you try to do. It’s very annoying.” He didn’t look annoyed. More joyful, radiant. Sneaky. The forever sneaky math blonde.

Krel placed his hands over his chest, the heartbeats underneath vibrating against his palms. Lovely, what a lovely place to be in indeed. His eyes were doing that thing even, when they told so much without a sound. It made him instinctively lean forward.

“Feeling the competition, you math blonde?”

Seamus happily went to meet him halfway.

“You got yourself another challenge, your majesty.” Only a breath of distance and-

“Ahoy champs, we’re back from the hunt!” The door was slammed open so hard the both of them winced away from each other, right as the Blanks stepped in. “Ahaha just kidding, it was the grocery store, did you really think we went to the forest for- well hello! Having fun over there?” Why of course, how could he think otherwise? Like this extraterrestrial prince, after spending the last parsons blending in into a foreign planet, saving his parents from a twisted fate and defeating a traitor turned dictator turned godlike creature, deserved some kind of reward or something.

Of course not. The biggest compensation for helping saving humanity on Earth was a high five.

Or a hug, in extremely lucky circumstances. Or in his case, a couple of robots that still hadn’t fully grasped the concept of privacy… or timing. Ricky was wearing such an exaggerated smirk too, one that according to Toby creeped humans out, which was probably not welcomed on an Earth date. That eyebrow did look unnaturally high.

The moment they were in view, Seamus’ hands had disappeared from his waist at the speed of light.

“N-No sir! Robot- man, what…?” He jumped backwards, his crutches falling onto the ground with a loud noise. “Ah! Mr. Tarron, Blank, sir!” His disheartened expression was both amusing and honestly very cute in a way – the Akiridion he used to be a kelton ago would have gone mad with confusion at hearing his current thoughts. “W-We’re making lasagna… ah, I should put it together or it won’t have enough time to bake!”

Lucy put her hands together – wasn’t for the strong slap sound it would have been even graceful.

“He even knows how to cook, the sweetheart! He sure is a catch!” Yep, Krel knew that one from Stuart, his cheeks were already boiling. “We’ll take care of the table, right Ricky?”

“Oki dokie Lucy!” At least they were helpful.

Meanwhile the blonde had the pot with the delicious brownish mixture on one side, a bowl with some kind of white concoction he had prepared beforehand – something called a bash-a-mella, it sounded violent and delicious at the same time –, a pile of yellow papers of some sort and a squared container right in front. Saying that the prince was intrigued was an understatement. He watched as the boy started by putting down the papers, going then to alternate the layers of the different substances to create a density in the recipient… for some reason. He looked like he knew what he was doing though, which was no surprise, even for Akiridion standards this guy was pretty brilliant. This looked like a scientific experiment, and the human was solely focused on that. He hadn’t even paid a glance to his walking structures on the ground.

Krel had the decency to pick them up, putting them back near the counter. Simple devices were these crutches, for a simple injury nonetheless. He looked down at Seamus’ legs. One of them was a little bended than the other. It didn’t give him very good memories.

He couldn’t help himself when his body scooted closer.

“Does it hurt very bad?” His low tone made it immediately evident what he was talking about.

“Nah, it hurt more before, the tight bandage made it a lot better. Dr. Lake did great.” Passing by Toby’s Jimbo’s house before coming back had been a good idea. The prince even had the time to thank the healer for taking care of his boyfriend during the final battle – he had decided to leave the explanation about the winged creature by her side to another time, it was not the weirdest ever expected but it seemed interesting enough. “It’s just a sprained foot, you know.”

Krel pressed his lips tightly together. Sometimes he felt like he could still feel the explosions of that day, when he had heard that scream in the air. He reached for his free hand, holding tight. It was the one showcasing the moon bracelet, a gift coming from out of space. Many problems had come from that place.

“I do know… I am very happy you are safe.” It had been terrifying, seeing him unconscious in the middle of the battlefield. He had been feeling powerless so many times in his life, he was glad that at least this once he had managed to do something.

Seamus clenched his hold around his fingers.

“Same goes for you. I’m happy we’re both okay.” They were okay. It felt better than any other reassurance, so he eased his hold. “I, for one, am looking forward to more dates without robots around!… ah, not the Blanks though, they’re cool.” Seamus made a little nervous laugh, looking behind his back for a second. “But I’ll need some more time to get used to them. The fact that they exist and function is amazing to me, but I need to get the hang of considering them alive, like you Akiridions do.” He gave him another shy look, like he was sorry about not being there yet. Krel really loved that sincerity of his, a quality he had learned to cherish as well.

Thinking about it, Krel had been around the Blanks for parsons now. He was plenty of used to them, especially considering he used to genuinely think all humans acted that weird – which to this delson wasn’t particularly wrong. For an inhabitant of a class-D planet this primitive and unadvanced, the prospective of such a progressed creation had to be destabilizing.

Yet his focus wasn’t really on that. It was on the fact that for his sake, Seamus cared about seeing these two robots like people, like any other very unusual citizen of this very unusual city.

The prince’s eyes softened. Seeing him cooking was relaxing for some reason.

“Actually, Blanks have been created with the aim of serving Akiridions, not even us usually perceive them as living creatures. The initial goal was to simply blend in thanks to them, the camouflage protocol of the… ship, was our best chance.” Saying her name gave him feelings he didn’t want to face right now. Then he heard Ricky blabbering and Lucy laughing delightfully, and he calmed down again. “But now… now they are close to me.” Like few others. Words missed his lips, because there had been so much pain but there was a time for good things too.

Very good things, like the way the blonde’s his free arm had promptly circled his waist to pull him closer. The weirdly squared dish was coming together, the brown matter still smelled delicious.

Seamus’ scent was good too. His smile as well.

“They are important to you, so there’s no way I can’t warm up to them. I just need a little more time, that’s all.” He pressed a kiss between his ear and his eye, a little place called temple that Krel had learned to be wary of. It was almost out of sight, and it gave him the lightest tickle. “Alright, I gotta finish this or we won’t have dinner at all.” It looked pretty much filled anyway. If that was even the intent, right now it was all a discovery for him. “… you want to give it a try?”

Krel found himself at loss, unconsciously leaning into his space.

“At cooking?” The blonde nodded, picking up some sort of metallic object. “Huh, perhaps? It was always Stuart or the Blanks doing it, I never actively participated to this activity…” He could feel the grin behind him without looking. “Do not count it as a victory.”

“Too late, I take all I can get with you.” Seamus picked up a block of greasy yellow milk, commonly known as cheese. “Come on.” He moved behind him, his chest was touching the prince’s back. It felt like a rush of warmth, Krel had to restrain himself from looking back – he knew he would have found an ingloriously sassy smile waiting. “You only have to grate the cheese over the lasagna, so it gets a nice crust in the oven. Like this.” His pink palm covered the back of the prince’s hand. He guided his movements, rubbing the cheese over the grated object that was starting to produce a rain of little cheesy flakes.

Krel mouthed a surprised sound, letting himself be led this time. Despite the dirtiness coming from such a hobby, cooking had some attractiveness in it. It resembled chemistry, engineering in a way, and while the only goal was to transform a still perfectly edible biologic matter into something less anonymous, there was something in it he couldn’t quite place. It was messy, creative, spontaneous, even welcoming in a way.

It felt almost like Earth, condensed into an action.

His eyes were almost hypnotized by the way the white rain covered the brown reddish surface. The gulp that came when Seamus pressed their cheeks together was beyond him, and so was the immediate pout that came right after when the blonde snickered.

“You are one incredibly unprofessional teacher.”

“It gets kinda hard to focus when your student is this adorable.” Seamus hummed softly. “Have I ever told you that this is one of the reasons why I’ve come to like you this much?”

“What? My scientific interest?”

“I would’ve called it childish curiosity, but sure let’s go that way.” Irritating. The word was heard without the need of a voice. The human seemed to find it absolutely amusing. “You struck me as some massive genius, which you are, so seeing you charmed by everything was a shock. It’s to this day one of the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Kleb. Kleb. Was there a limit on how sneaky could a person be? Were humans in possession of an unlimited source of this attitude regarding social interactions? In that case his boyfriend was hiding from him a massive stock.

It was a given at this point, another detail into their relationship. Another reason why there hadn’t been a single boring day ever since he had met him. Krel had learned so much about bonds not core-related since he had found himself on Earth. It was an exhilarating experience.

He breathed out softly, leaning back despite the little frustration building up.

“I was wrong, it’s not a blonde thing being annoying, it is a you thing.” His eyes softened. “You are so very stubborn… and determinate. Perhaps it is a reason why I like you this much.” Letting everything out was still a little new for him, it felt like a rush from his stomach all the way to his throat. It was worth it just to see how much Seamus would react, the way he seemed unbelieving of what they had. It came almost with no surprise how he hugged him from behind, his slightly cold noise pressing against his neck.

“How am I the sneaky one?” The blonde hair on his bangs were tickling his cheek, those ears were so red they radiated heat. Victory was so much sweeter with this guy.

“Hey lovebirds!! How’s going in here?” Wow, really? Was there really no pity left for him from Gaylen after all the mess that had happened because of his core? The moment Lucy was nearby, Seamus let him go so fast he almost fell back. “It smells delicious! I’ll put it into the oven for you dear, is it already hot?” Barely the time for an answer, in a quick and too fast to be gracious swirl her robotic hands were already onto the pray.

The blonde was taken back for a second, probably conflicted by the development – and possibly the fate of his poor dish in the hands of this clumsy robot. Then his eyes went over the prince, they visibly relaxed, and he nodded slightly to her and himself.

“Uhm, sure, thank you… huh, Mrs. Lucy.” Oh, the right button. The Blank was beaming – literally, those eyes were emitting electricity. “The oven is already at 325 Fahrenheit… or 170 Celsius… or 443,15 Kelvin…” Never mind all the mushy words from before, this math blonde was the absolutely worst and if his dinner didn’t depend on him Krel would have shoved him onto the ground. “Come on, don’t make that face! You really want to make me believe Akiridion science is impeccable and able to unravel everything? You revolutionized the world of science while working on this planet, mister.” That was… true, kleb, once again Seamus had proved that humans with a brain were more challenging to discuss with than common earthlings.

The lass-anya was in the oven. The Blank closed it with a loud slap that would have made him worried for the integrity of the machine, hadn’t it been rebuilt by Akiridion engineers before Aja’s departure. It had all prior defective functionalities, it was only sturdier – knowing about this infernal measurement system beforehand though, that would have not been the only improvement.

Krel sighed, shrugging the thought off his mind.

“Is that all?”

“Almost, all we need is the sauce for the dessert. Can you pass me the…?” The prince hurried to grab the crutches, Seamus smiled gratefully at him. For how careless this boy had been with his injury so far, it was the least he had to do. “I only need to put the raspberries your, huh, Blanks brought back from the grocery store into the mixer. Considering your taste I’m gonna add a bit more sugar to make it sweeter.” Ah, he knew how much he liked sweet human food. He used to wonder if it was supposed to be this easy, getting all soft inside at hearing an otherwise meaningless statement. Now that he had more experience, he knew they were on the same wavelength. At this point it was very hard to ignore that spark into those cerulean eyes.

The blonde dropped the red fruits into the blender along with the sugar substance, and switched on the machine. It destroyed everything, turning it into a liquid that horribly resembled the color of human blood – he was glad Varvatos never tried to use it for his… glorious torture methods.

Krel leaned in a little more, interested into the sudden transformation. Then his eyes fell onto the boy’s neck: there was a trace on his skin, some sort of spot a little darker than the rest. He touched it instinctively. The blonde turned around with a gulp, slightly pink on his cheeks already. Despite how very cutely he always reacted, this time it was not on purpose.

“Sorry, your squishy covering looked weird over here.”

“My what?… oh, my skin is darker there? Yeah, it happens when you stay under the sun a lot, and I have a pretty delicate skin on the neck. Remember when we went to the beach?” Krel could never forget such an uncertain and comforting moment in his life. “For humans the ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun penetrate cells in the skin called melanocytes, that produce melanin. It’s a pigment that makes it darker.” Peculiar. Disgustingly sounding as usual, but peculiar. Now that he was used to his earthling form so much, he would have not minded knowing more about it. “… is your transduction affected by that? Can you get tanned?”

Fair question. That would have been an interesting discussion to explore. Then again, they had been left into each other’s quiet thinking too much already, didn’t they?

“Did you say tanned?” Once again, out of nowhere and attempting to the poor heart of his poor boyfriend, Ricky emerged from behind the counter pointing to them with his – hopefully with the safety on – finger guns. “With our new formula you will never fear the sun again! Go be the man, keep up the tan!” He finished with a wiggle of his hands.

Lucy appeared from behind right after, like she was teleported from the counter over there.

“Tannnnngo for amateurs, the dance of seduction! Learn the tricks from the professionals of the famous TV show ‘Jigging with the Comets’!” Her eyes glitched for a second, and all of the sudden she launched herself in front of his still very startled, still very confused, and so very not used to a woman with a very specific chapter of human history installed into her brain, boyfriend. “First lesson, learn the basics!” She mouthed those words maniacally, then without warning – because as usual there was no such thing as common sense into her digital head – she grabbed Seamus’ hands and dragged him forward. “Let us begin!”

“What the what now?!”

“Lucy!” Krel tried to grab him but she was faster and stronger – urgh he did not need that kind of inferiority complex now that Aja was gone. “He’s hurt, let him go!” She seemed to be holding him up higher by one side at least, so the bad foot wasn’t touching the ground. Her unpredictability was still concerning though. “Seklos and Gaylen, why can’t you two give me a brea- whoa!!”

“Feel the rhythm, let it guide you!” Ricky somehow caught up with whatever his wife had going on in her mind. He held up one of the prince’s hand, while resting the other on his slim back. “Let’s do it to the count, everyone! Together!” He started to move his feet, pulling him along, and despite Krel having at least a bit of knowledge about dancing this seemed a little different from the last time. “Slow… slow… quick, quick, slow!” He moved one step forward, then the other, then a third while dragging the other leg slowly against the other.

Seamus was gaping, finding himself in Ricky’s same position while Lucy guided him. He looked more baffled than uncomfortable at least, although he sent him half a clumsy glance.

“Huh, what’s going on?” Krel sighed, surrendering to the superior strength of technology.

“They get extremely unexplainable every once in a while, I believe it has something to do with the dated Earth culture stuck into their heads.” The blonde’s eyes managed to look both a little offended and kinda amused. “They will hopefully end this in a moment.”

Hopefully. Too bad they usually lacked that fortune big time.

Lucy seemed absolutely delighted by whatever they were doing, moving her hips at every step like she wanted to give her everything into the movement.

“Slow… slow… quick, quick, slow! Change angle, slow… slow… quick, quick, slow!” Seamus followed a little slowly at first, gaining a bit of security after every step. “Excellent! Now we’re talking lead, pay attention!” She lowered a little on her legs. “Bend your knees and show your confidence, make your partner know you’re in charge! Move your body accordingly, keep your elbow high, and don’t forget to listen to the music!” While Ricky was ‘leading’ the prince, Lucy let the blonde practice the move, pulling him along with a very content smile. “Very good! These were the guidelines to tango! If you liked it you can buy the rest of the course at this number!” The glitch covered whatever numeric sequence she had in mind. “Don’t forget to practice every day to get better! And let the passion always guide you!”

Then suddenly the Blanks shared a wink, and Krel found himself spun rapidly – such a gyrational strength that could parallel Aja’s. Before he could shout some indignant comment, which he was starting to think he was never going to run out of with these two, he found himself right in front of a very startled Seamus, that was holding him just like Ricky was doing a moment ago. It gave him that thing, that flashneck humans talked about. From when they had been in the planetarium, in a quiet night, dancing under fluorescent stars.

The blonde was reddening like back then, looking like he got the biggest surprise with Krel being Krel. There was a rustling nearby, they both turned.

The Blanks were near the device that was activated by music circles.

“Now onto the freestyle section, show us what you’ve learned today!” Ricky gave her wife a nod, and she let the needle fall onto the disk. “Follow the steps and focus on your partner, let your emotions lead you through the music!” There was a thud, then a melody took over.

Whenever Krel listened to music, the experience was completely different every time. His very first approach to it had a charming and a little rustic rhythm, his own remixes were pulsing and loud. The time they had danced together it had started with an irresistible and itchy melody, that had slowed down into the sweetest frequency of all. Right now, the music seemed to be counting, marking waves as the song came out vibrating. It required steps, it demanded their feet moved so they could be dominated by it. At the same time, despite the overpowering silent order, there was a caress in between, as they were being guided towards a goal.

Music was magical. There was no other term he could have used, no scientific terminology sufficed. Krel felt Seamus’ hand caressing his back and he came back to his senses.

“Xerxes maelstrom, they took longer than usual to end their silliness.” Lucy snickered with a hand over her mouth, while Ricky did that finger gun again before dragging his wife away. Finally. “Forgive them, sometimes they cannot help the nonsense of- whoa, what are you doing?” The guy wasn’t letting him go the slightest. He was bending his knees, with a big smirk on his face.

“It would be a waste not using a free lesson.”

“Huh? Oh-” His hold onto his hand got firmer, as he stepped towards him. Krel instinctively moved back, following his steps. “Wait, no- stop!” The prince gritted his teeth, trying to hold his feet in place. “Your foot, you soolian! You are still hurt!”

“Come on, this is amateur level. I won’t hurt myself.”

“But-”

“Please? I told you I’m doing a lot better, it barely hurt when I’m not moving it. And you know I feel the best when we have fun together.” Seamus made that smile, that perhaps was like any other but for Krel it was the one he struggled the most to deny it something. “The best way to fully recover right now, is to have a dance with my boyfriend. How about it?” He was smirking already, like he knew that at that point, there was no way he had it in him to say no. The prince lingered over his words for a little, testing the weight over his feet and pondering over his current rationality.

Ah, whatever. The moment he had decided to live here was the moment he had taken it upon himself to embrace all the random nonsense coming along with this planet. With a little roll of his eyes he let himself go, falling under the hold of the very satisfied guy in front of him.

He still huffed at his usual stubbornness.

“You truly need to learn some self-preservation.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna hear that from you, Mr. Knockout.”

“… you are by now forbitten from interacting with Aja to hear about our adventures, it is the King-in-waiting that declares it.” Seamus burst into laughter, right into his very embarrassed expression. “You better not have insisted on tagging along with the Staja before solely to hear about those stories!” They hadn’t gone on that many dual dates – as the humans said – after all, before the second movie premiere and the departure for Akiridion-5. How did his sister manage to let his boyfriend know about his very unpleasant precedents in battle before leaving the planet was a mystery. One he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to uncover.

Seamus was absolutely glowing today, changing the angle, steps placed down following a rhythm at last. There had to be similarities with the other dance style, he seemed at ease. He was limping a little, but it seemed mostly under control for now.

“Of course not. Or perhaps it’s true and I made a mistake, wanna embrace me?”

“… I hate you, so very much.”

Another snicker.

“You’re as flattering as ever.” The blonde pulled him closer, hand firm on his back, beautifully warm as usual. Annoying. Yet perhaps Krel did not hate him that much after all.

The music kept counting between them. Once again the world outside disappeared, they were lost in their own galaxy, dotted with the stars from Seamus’ room. The blonde was receptive, bending his knees while guiding the prince by the hand through the room. They were enveloped into waves, slow yet rhythmic that pushed them all over the place; their feet were changing position again and again, growing more and more confident as they learned the pace. Their eyes were crossed, never leaving each other, because dancing was fun but it was only as their thing. Their passion only.

It got harder to keep track of the time. Krel decided that he had been afraid of the inevitable passing of sektons for too long now, fearing for his life and for the ones he cared about. He wasn’t wasting time if he was enjoying himself. It was going to take time to accept that.

In the meanwhile, his boyfriend was smirking again. He immediately sensed irritation coming.

“What had you this giddy again?”

“Mm? Nothing.” His voice a little got higher, he was lying. He knew that Krel knew, and somehow grinned some more. “I just thought it’s funny that right now, I’m in charge of a prince.” Well wasn’t this human the boldest and most nonsensical of all.

“What makes you think you are in charge?”

“Well, you’re not exactly pulling much of a resistance right now.” As to prove his point the blonde pushed himself forward, making him follow his steps. They were even closer. The prince couldn’t help the shiver that caught his shoulders. “You’re so stuck-up and prideful, but every once in a while you can’t help getting caught up in the moment.” Seamus brushed their noses together, eyes glimmering. “You look really overwhelmed right now. It’s a nice look.” He snickered, so low it seemed to reverberate into his chest.

It felt like a calling. An invitation to put a step forward. There was a whole galaxy of things Krel did not now about romantic relationships, it was a study area he had barely scratched the surface of. It brought in him a completely different scientific excitement, a nice pinch in the back of his neck that made him want to move forward, to see how much he could lean before falling. It used to be such a dangerous game, a step in the dark, unaware of the cliff forward.

Now they had progressed, and it felt like there was a safety net below. He could move a little more forward, feeling surer about himself and what they had. With that in mind, letting his hand slide up Seamus’ back came naturally. The moment a confused sound left the blonde’s throat, Krel’s finger was onto his serrator with a grin.

His Akiridion form stood up in a burst of light, and he could see the inches of height gained that were already affecting his vision. Anything to see that astonished look on his face.

“You were right.” The prince mimicked the exact smirk this guy had before. “It is a good face.”

“What the…?! Hey!” It definitely took too long for the human to react, because this prince didn’t lose time at taking the lead. He assumed position with his upper hands, while resting the lower ones onto the boy’s sides. “You can’t just…! You didn’t even…! Whoa!!” Seamus was spun around, the reddest he had ever been, holding onto him for dear life. “That was totally unfair!”

Krel found it very hard not to break into a laugh. This felt too good.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Don’t you dare play dumb with me, I grew up with Steve, I’m immune!” It was hard to tell if his cheeks were this vivid out of embarrassment or anger or- no wait, his lips were trembling of a held back smile, the answer wasn’t that unclear anymore. “Showing off your hot Akiridion self, you tease! I hope you know, this means war!” They were spinning around, somehow still in time with the music. It turned out that having four arms wasn’t only an important royal symbol, it helped plenty with silly shenanigans with a boyfriend – this was all precious knowledge. “Get back here you little- Aha, gotcha! Better luck next time!” Kleb, the blonde had stepped too close to grab the weapon, it had distracted him,!! – curse his adorable face!

One button pressed and the balance had changed, like his height. Seamus was smiling from one ear to the other, taking the lead once again with a bit more boldness into his movement. Krel couldn’t help the trembling of his hands. The closer he got, the warmer he felt. Despite this, there was an even bigger factor he couldn’t help focusing on: burning competitiveness.

What a soolian, the prince was nowhere near done. He smirked again.

“This is the only time I have ever seen you aiming right, indeed…”

“Hey, bringing back the shooting boot is another low blow!” Nice to know their first date was vivid into his memory as much as in Krel’s. “And you literally carry along a laser with you, of course I’m not much of a sniper in comparison!” It made this a lot easier.

“Mm? What laser?”

“What do you mean what laser?! This-” His math blonde had to be a little over the edge right now, he would have not purposely showed him the serrator with a clear mind. With that being said, the expression of absolutely bewilderment when Krel snapped the weapon and changed back immediately was worth anything. “… I was wrong, after all these years I did get infected by Palchuk germs. At last, I’m ruined.” He narrowed his blue eyes, a playful expression replacing the simulated hurt on his face – maybe it was the dramatic attitude what he got from Steve. “But I will not go down without a fight!” Right after they were onto each other, managing into the assault to knock Seamus’ meaningless objects from the counter onto the ground. Neither of them cared, too busy evading attacks, turning the transformation off and back again and again.

It wasn’t the smartest idea considering how delicate the device was, yet the prince felt like he could take this moment. He could let him hold him, he could move with the music, he could giggle until his stomach hurt and there was no lingering anxious thought left into his mind. Morando was gone. There weren’t other enemies trying to kill him. The Arcadians knew about Akiridions and accepted them. Right now, carrying his serrator only meant carrying a gift he had received from his parents, the proof that he had survived despite everything.

And the container of a photo. Their most sincere memory of them.

It was either being those inches taller in comparison to his human persona – he suspected that his hair added even more to the sum, but for the sake of his self-esteem he decided to ignore it – or having two arms more to escape and perform attacks, but at last the prince found himself dominating the dance. The blonde was absolutely flustered, snickering so hard he didn’t have a voice anymore. Krel had seen other humans ‘blushing’, as they called it, but this boy was somehow able to turn red from the chin to the head. It turned out that when it came to Seamus, he wasn’t that interested in the scientific implications of biologic reactions.

It was him. It was lovely. Those were the only conclusions this genius could come up with.

Related to this outcome, in his opinion – which meant in the only logical opinion –, there could be only one consequence. So Krel picked up the song, put his steps back on track with the rhythm, and dipped his boyfriend right at the end of the melody. Last time, at the planetarium, it had been him held onto the void while looking into his blue eyes. The opposite felt empowering. Was this how it felt to be physically in advantage? Between Aja and Varvatos he had never felt this way.

It was disorienting… and exhilarating. Although he wouldn’t have minded if they switched places again. He grinned, crossing eyes with a very hallucinated look.

“Another victory of mine?”

Seamus widened his eyes, panting. Then he burst into laughter. Seklos and Gaylen, for the longest time he had failed to understand terms such as ‘falling’ and ‘crushing’ related to romantic bonds, it had always seemed like another complete misuse of extremely specific terms. Now he felt like he could get them all, all at once, as they were pushing and bursting into his chest. This human had the most amazing laugh, and he was so very happy he was the one causing it. Despite loving his engineer role, none of his experiments had this incredible reaction at the end.

“Alright, I did walk right into this one.” Seamus tapped over his shoulder sheepishly, silently asking for pity and receiving it by being put back on his feet. “Dang, you got so much more devious since I’ve met you!” With his cheeks still bright red, anything would have felt like a compliment.

Krel huffed a smile, two pair of hands unwavering on the blonde’s sides.

“Considering the amount of sneakiness you usually display, I believe this is what humans call a ‘fair game’.”

“I’m not complaining. Losing is even too nice when it comes to you.”

“Giving up already?”

“Who said anything about quitting? No way, not a chance.” Seamus smirked. He let his hands go up his glowing arms and to his shoulders, only for those warm palms to stops over his cheeks. “I’m an honorary student of Arcadia Oaks High, your majesty. You should know by now, how much I love measuring up with an exciting challenge.” He would have leaned in. They were both aware. When the ringing of the timer interrupted the moment before it could start, an annoying sound that of course came right from Lucy’s mechanical vocal cords, they groaned at unison. Then they looked at each other and laughed it up.

The female Blank clapped her hands together – again way too strongly for it to be elegant –, gesturing towards the nutrition area.

“Come on sweethearts, time to put some fat on those bones! Get to it!”

The table had been prepared in the meanwhile, so despite the interruption the Blanks could be thanked for that. It felt a bit disconcerting seeing the place where all those ‘dinner family’ situations had occurred before empty of the usual atmosphere, and the usual commensals. It made his core heavy still, to think that nothing was ever going to be like back then. Yet the intimacy of those two single spots was comforting, almost as it brought them closer into their own little space. It was different, but not unpleasant.

Seamus grabbed the crutches and went to take place; with him there the atmosphere looked already less gloomy. Krel was about to follow, mindlessly changing back into his human form, but then his foot slightly slipped onto the ground. There was a flier. Seamus’ bag that had fallen down during their dance had scattered stuff all over.

They had been too caught up to even notice. He smiled a little, whispering to himself.

“We really forget about everything in these moments…”

“Ah, sorry about that, can you pick them up for me?”

The prince nodded and kneeled down, gathering the spilled content. Headphones, a little notebook, a bunch of tissues. His eyes fell onto the multiple fliers: help for teaching math, assistant for computers… sitting on babies? Oh wait, this was that one occupation Aja had mentioned to him once – something that had followed a long and unconcluded conversation about how was having a seat over a tiny human supposed to provide income.

“I thought you already had jobs.”

“Ah, well, I do still give newspapers, but I have some free time to spare now… since the planetarium got involved into an epic fight against an evil extraterrestrial god.” Great Gaylen, that battle had been a major inconvenience for all parts involved, even those not directly. If he hadn’t been in such an emotional tumult back then, between trying not to die and all the affair with his parents, perhaps he would have paid more attention to the safety of his boyfriend’s workplace. “The place was not damaged that much, and they promised me I can have my job back as soon as the repairs are done so it’s fine. But I don’t really like sitting around doing nothing. Besides, some extra money is always good.” A hard worker. That was considered very charming on Akiridion-5.

Or perhaps it was also on this planet… or perhaps it was only in Krel’s opinion… or perhaps this prince’s bias regarding his stubborn, conscientious, and determinate partner was getting the best over his rationality, and at last he had decided to make peace with it.

… there was no way to tell what was it. No way at all.

Lucy had just taken out the tray from the oven – something Seamus had loudly winced at, unclear if for concern over the safety of his creation or the apparently-human lady taking out a steaming hot metal object with bare hands –, so the prince quickly gathered the papers without much looking and put them back into the backpack. He left it onto the counter and took his place at the table, right in front of the smiling blonde.

“Here’s the slob you guys, enjoy your meal!” Ricky cut two generous pieces of the lass-anya for them. It was a layered structure, and it smelled fantastic. The prince could call himself intrigued – if his name wasn’t already Krel. “Miiiiiillion of people choose it everyday! Have the best vacation, with Omni-Reach Travels!” The Blank’s eye glitched, and a moment later he was leaving the room.

Lucy raised a finger and a tiny blowtorch flame ignited, lightening up the wax cylinder in the middle of the table. He didn’t quite know for what purpose, but he found it appropriate. Then she raised a bottle of some kind, pouring it into their glasses.

“Tipple with moderation! And don’t have too much fun!”

She laughed, as loudly as usual, before disappearing as fast as her husband, almost leaving her fading figure behind. That was to be expected, these bots had been designed to be their cover but they were even less capable of acting normal than actual extraterrestrials, they couldn’t be inconspicuous no matter wha- Oh Seamus had such a face right now. One completely baffled, highly uncomfortable, agitated expression – this prince knew a very proud durian that didn’t like admitting his own stink, he was highly familiar with that uneasiness.

The blonde slowly reached for his glass, smelled it skeptically and then took a sip. He loudly sighed in relief, murmuring something like “Thank goodness for soda” under his breath. Krel arched an eyebrow, looking down at his drink, then back at the guy.

“What did you think it was?”

“That’s a… huh… alright, I don’t even know if there’s an Akiridion equivalent, and hopefully it would be as adult related as it is here. It’s a conversation for another time.” Right, here there was a certain attention about majority and adults. It wasn’t that on Akiridion-5 there was no difference, but perhaps on Earth it had something to do with the delicate physiology of a tiny human – although how could drinking be an absolute necessity and a reason to fear at the same time? “I know they set the table only for the two of us, but I thought Lucy and Ricky were going to join us… wait, can they eat?” His voice tended to relax whenever he asked about something he was passionate about. Technology coming from out of space? Definitely into Seamus’ field of interest.

“They possess a mechanical skeleton so their system forbids them from attempting, as it might be dangerous. With that being said, they do have human instincts, so sometimes they imitate the movements.” A laugh came on its own. They were silly, irrational and unpredictable. As everything else on this weird planet, he had grown attached to them. “They usually stick food onto their faces most of the time, I thought it wasn’t going to be an appealing view for you.”

Seamus snickered, picking up his glass.

“Much appreciated. Never mind that, I hope you like the food. A toast?” This one custom he remembered and liked. “To our Arcadia Oaks, that has survived another hardship. And to your permanence on this planet.” He raised the drink at him. “I’m really glad you’re here. Cheers.”

How bizarre. Everything felt a little evanescent, like reality hadn’t settled down around him ever since he had looked at the wormhole and realized that wasn’t the way home anymore. It had been a huge turnaround, one that had taken him by pure instinct, leaving him to deal with the emptiness of unpreparedness. This impulsive decision wasn’t him. This sudden need to reach for what he really wanted wasn’t him. Doubts, guilt, uncertainty, fear, everything had filled him painfully the moment he had remained the only Akiridion left on Earth. He had taken this decision on this same day, yet it felt like he had spent delsons in terror.

How unusual. These upsetting feelings were so strong inside of him, but even stronger were the forces able to make them all vanish. Like the people of Arcadia cheering for his permanence. His friends assuring him they were going to be there if he ever needed. Mary and Darci promising to go to a dance club together – like the Teen Center perhaps –, Eli already texting excitedly from Akiridion-5, Steve and Toby patting his back like he really was one of them.

How strange. How nicely weird, feeling his mind drifting away from all that didn’t make him feel absolutely special, just by focusing on Seamus’ eyes on him. He didn’t know how long it was going to take, to be at peace with what he knew had been the right decision.

For now, he wanted to think solely about the best parts of it. He picked up his own drink, and he let the glasses clink against each other.

“Cheers.” He finally grabbed the fork. “Now let us see what you are about.”

“Why does it sound like the judgment for another challenge?”

“Why do you sound surprised?” Seamus snickered, as Krel let the utensil sink into the squared piece. He blew a bit onto the forkful and put it into his mouth. Kleb. He was sincerely at loss of words for a couple of sektons, during which his boyfriend’s grin did nothing but grow wider. “How did you, underdeveloped biological beings, manage to discover so many different expressions of deliciousness??” It was pure wonder. Soft and creamy, consistent and tasteful, it felt and tasted warm in a way he could barely describe. He only knew that he needed to dig in right now – turned out he had to discover such a wonderful dish to learn the meaning of this term.

From a frantic bite to the other the prince managed to see the other’s absolutely adoring expression on him. Right when he started to question when he was going to start eating – and if it was considered offensive stealing food from other people’s plates on this planet – the blonde picked up with own fork, finally tasting himself.

“Mm… oh yeah, I’m good.” Despite their own pride and competitiveness, the prince was against not stating the scientific facts of life, so he nodded vividly. “Although I can’t really take all the credit on this one, it’s not my recipe.”

“Whom is it?”

“Ah, huh, it’s-” Seamus cleared his voice, suddenly looking elsewhere. “It’s not important.” Wow. Either humans had started to get easier to read, or he was finally getting used to them.

“… it’s your mother’s, is it not?” Another vivid wince, and despite the sudden burst of sadness inside Krel couldn’t help smiling. He took the towel and wiped his cheek, eyes down onto his marvelous meal. “You do not have to be so overly cautious about the matter. You are finally in good terms with her, I’m sure you cannot wait to talk about it.” He wished he didn’t sound as bitter as he was feeling. He was new to the whole boyfriend thing, but he was sure being supportive was an important part of it.

“Hey.” The sudden softness of his tone made him look up. It was done, the prince couldn’t bring himself to hide anything in front of those eyes. Not after everything they had been through. “You don’t have to hide how you’re feeling with me, not anymore. How about we focus on something good for the both of us? Unless you want to talk about it?” Without another word he picked up the prince’s empty plate and served him another portion, putting it back in front of him still steamy.

Sweet Seklos, how could this guy, with his words and his understanding? Now his throat was pinching horribly, and his core was pulsing so much. Krel pressed his lips tightly together, swallowing harshly another bite of lass-anya. Less roughly than before.

“The food is good.” He dared a smile, it came out smoother than he expected. Not for talking about the matter, but perhaps for keeping high the mood of the evening. “… you are also good.”

Seamus looked affectionately at him.

“Good.” He let a few sektons fly by between them, Krel was very grateful for that moment to think and retake. The blonde moved to sit back down but his eyes stopped at the counter near the kitchen. “Oh wow, I didn’t even notice! Sorry I got the kitchen a little messy, I’ll clean it up later.” That was messy for him? Oh yeah, he had never seen the lab during the more recreational part of building up his wormhole. The poor unaware and adorable human.

He spoke some truth though, the inhabitants here tended to clean dishes. They never had to, not with an advanced AI regulating the entire house… right. It was another reason why this place seemed so different now. Despite the pain inside, Krel thought that the ship… Mother, would have been so sassily satisfied of seeing him right now, here with him.

Despite his grief, he knew she would have been happy.

“No worries, the Blanks will most likely take care of it.” He had to refocus on the conversation again, managing to notice a pretty questioning look stuck on him. “What?”

“Have you ever cleaned a plate before?

“No?… oh great Gaylen, why are you laughing now??”

“Nothing, I swear!” Why humans thought this clearly insincere answer could be somehow satisfactory was one of the greatest mysteries he had ever encountered. “It’s just that you’re a prince and that’s kinda what I would expect from you. You know, from a privileged role that doesn’t really let you have much of a struggle.” Sure, his life was absolutely easy and not at all exhausting… he really got the hang of sarcasm on this planet. “But I guess being royalty on Akiridion-5 must be pretty different from here.” Hard to tell. He was aware that there were rulers on Earth and they covered the same position as the ones from his home planet, people that were supposed to be higher on hierarchy to lead other creatures’ lives – he wasn’t sure how that was working out here if people like colonel Kubritz had been allowed to study extraterrestrial activity.

With that being said, Krel didn’t like what he was hearing. Perhaps his role as a royal member of house Tarron of Akiridion-5 was a little questionable at the moment, since Aja was going to take the throne without him around, but he was a prince nonetheless. Being seen as a slaking and generally indolent figure? Kleb no.

“You better not be accusing me of laziness.”

“It’s only a stereotype, I know you’re anything but deadbeat. I only think it’s kinda funny that no matter the planet, most princes don’t even know how to clean a plate.”

“This prince does know how to break the laws of physics instead.”

“… touché.” It was Krel’s turn to look curiously at him, putting another forkful of lass-anya into his mouth without looking away. “It means hit, like when you give the last draw to your opponent. It’s a metaphor for when you end a discussion with something that can’t be countered.” That sounded like something Varvatos could had used – anything war related and generally torturous was his passion after all. “It’s in French… and it wouldn’t be a bad idea learning a bit of really,” He pointed a fork at him, looking unimpressed. “Since Cantaloupia is in France.” Even though Krel felt like he had mastered enough the art of sarcasm, hearing it from a human felt much more coherent.

It still made him cringe on the inside, and he grimaced towards his plate. Ever since they got back together the memory of their breakup had felt a lot less destructive, both for his feelings and for his core. With that being said, especially with how easily his boyfriend was adapting to his extraterrestrial origins, he couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed of himself for keeping the secret for so long. Everything could had been simpler… maybe.

He looked up. Seamus smiled as soon as they crossed eyes. He wasn’t holding a grudge, thankfully. Krel took the littlest breath, shrugging.

“That cover story wasn’t supposed to last as long as it did, the plan was to stay over this planet for a parson at least. Things got… complicated.” The infamous euphemism humans liked to use. As satisfying as always. “Now that Arcadia is aware of my presence, there is no need for an excuse.”

“What if you decide to travel? You might want to wait a little before telling other people besides Arcadians about you, and there are a lot of places to see. No matter how much you know, when you’re on a planet with 195 different states and 6500 various languages, even you could discover something new.” The blonde shrugged a little. “Summer is supposed to be all about vacations, but you and I only had that little escape at the beach. We could have more, even with the others.” It was nice that he called them escapes still. It felt like their thing. Akiridion-5 wasn’t that variegated. Space travelling had never been particularly attractive to him, not even when he had learned how to pilot a ship for the first time. Here, there were little worlds inside a massive world to discover.

Besides, exploring his dumb heap with friends and his boyfriend? An absolute delightful thought.

“That does sound appealing.” Krel stopped talking for a moment in favor of another bite. “You mentioned that you speak French before?” Not in the best circumstances, but the memory was there.

“A bit, I studied it in middle school and I practice it every once in a while. Dad really doesn’t like wasted school hours, so sometimes he gets me to speak it with him in the evening. It’s not the worst idea he had ever had.” If that wasn’t the truth considering the human. Seamus tilted his head. “You wanna learn a bit? I can teach you a few words, and before you say it no, totally not to have an excuse to beat you at something.” The prince rolled his eyes with a smile. “How about a cultural exchange? You could… teach me a bit of your language.”

Krel widened his eyes, slowly putting down the fork.

“You want to learn Akiridion?” The blonde nodded sheepishly. “Why?”

“It always got me curious. Even before we started dating sometimes I would randomly hear you or your sister say stuff like Gaylen and kleb and… huh, fligbag or something?” What? How could he mispronounce such a simple term, even considering his inexperience with Akiridion language that sounded quite weir- ooh, was this how everyone felt in regard of his calls on human words? Illuminating. “I’d like to know more about it… more about you, you know. That’s something I always like to do, it never changed.” The blonde made a shy giggle, suddenly very interested in the remaining of his meal.

It left the prince a little baffled. His brain was never going to be foresightful enough to predict all the surprises coming from a single human. Especially this one, that after meeting the new A+ math student, the weirdo Cantaloupian, the genius engineer, the dancer, the DJ, the prince and the Akiridion, still wanted to know even more about him. Almost as he wasn’t already aware of more than everyone else, almost as if he didn’t care as long as it brought them even closer.

He pressed his lips together, pondering over it. When his eyes went onto the wall, where a circular clock was ticking the time into the silence, he lightened up at the surge of the idea.

He brought out his cellphone and placed it onto the table. He tapped onto the numbers over the display. At least on measuring the time their concepts were pretty similar, even though the names were different – he might had lost it completely in that case. Seamus leaned forward just as Krel pointed at the first set of numbers, that was changing at rapid sequence as he was moving.

“One second. One sekton.” He made sure to pronounce slowly, letting it dance onto his tongue. As many times before, the blonde understood him immediately, clearly eager to start.

“One sehton.”

“The syllable is more marked. Try again, one sek-ton.”

“One sekton?” Krel nodded firmly and his boyfriend beamed at him – again, he had never understood the term before until he had experienced glimmers over his vision at his smile. The blonde pointed at the same set of numbers on his phone, letting their fingers brush for a moment. The moon bracelet moved against the table. “In French it’s une seconde.” It had a soft sound, this language. It was so very foreign to him, but not to a point where he would have disliked it.

It even had a musicality into it. Or perhaps that was all Seamus.

“Une sècond?”

“The accent is on the o. Une seco-nde.”

“Une… seconde.”

“Perfect!” His index shifted onto the next set, with the sequence of number a little slower but not by much. “One minute is, une minute. The accent is on the second syllable again.” It was gaining a scheme, a logic. That far the prince could follow.

“Une minute.” Seamus grinned with a nod, scooting a little closer to him. Krel welcomed the closeness gladly. “One mekron in Akiridion.”

“One mekron.”

“You are catching up with the pronunciation pretty quickly.”

“If you weren’t my boyfriend the fact that you keep forgetting, or ignoring, that I’m a top student could actually hurt me.” As a consequence to that he picked up his hand and placed a kiss onto his palm. Krel decided that between calling out another egomaniac moment of his and feeling his entire being melt under this warmth, he very much preferred the second option for once. “Well apart for this bit of French there’s Spanish from school, some Chinese I learned from Mary’s parents, and a few words of German for the sake of knowing what kind of swear words Senor Uhl mutters all the time.” The blonde started to caress his palm with his thumb. “I guess I’m used to learn very different languages. But at the end talking isn’t the only way of communicating.” That statement met no complain from him. Intelligence, actions, imaginations, there were so many canals of communication that had helped the prince through the way ever since he had landed here.

He let his fingers tap onto the last almost immobile set of numbers.

“One hour, one horvath.” Seamus frowned a little. “One hor-vath.”

“Oh, one horvath?” The prince couldn’t help feeling proud. Was this how Mrs. Janeth experienced when a student guessed right her questions? It didn’t feel bad. It was even nice. “Une heure.” His voice got so much lower. So much softer.

“Une heure.”

“I should be used to you immediately catching up with something new like it was nothing. Somehow it always amazes me.” He tapped over the phone, showing today’s Earth date. He tapped over the two digits number. “One day, un jour. This one is pretty different from English.” It was. He wondered what the reason besides such differences was and if there was a right or wrong way of defining the same time period.

“Un jour.” Maybe they were all fine, maybe all of them were fine. “One delson.”

“One delson.” Both of their hands were brought together. Seamus wasn’t looking at the phone anymore. “One month, un mois.”

“Un mois.” Their fingers intertwined. “One year, one kelton.”

“One kelton.” They both leaned a bit towards each other, as much as the table in between could allow them. It was a little annoying, but it was also enough. “Une année.” Enough to know they were both thinking of nothing but each other.

“Une année.” Krel smiled. “Our tymath.”

“Notre temps.” His boyfriend mimicked him. Great minds think alike, it was a very common human expression. It had never felt as real as now.

“Our time.” Their voices overlapped.

Like their hands, their fingers, clenched onto each other’s.

He had a third portion of lass-anya, after that and before going for the dessert. Even though he had questioned the origin of this panna cotta substance before attempting a taste – the fact that it jiggled massively like some kind of subproduct from Durio wasn’t exactly encouraging –, he had decided that today his boyfriend was the one in the right and there was nothing he could had done about it: the dessert was a creamy, sweet, the sauce was nicely pinching and altogether it was a wonderful experience. Seamus had laughed it off, clearly proud of himself. Then Krel had tried to feed him like the guy did before to him, and the blonde had turned red to the top of his ears. It had been one absolutely lovely time.

When they got out of the house at last, the sky was turning deep blue, a purple aura was barely circling the roofs of the houses. Krel carefully helped his boyfriend moving forward, who was holding onto the crutches to walk without stepping on a foot that miraculously hadn’t worsened during their shenanigans. From how hard he was smiling though, one would have never guessed his precarious condition without checking his lower appendixes.

After all the messes they had both gone through, that expression went beyond a sigh of relief.

“Are you sure it’s fine leaving the kitchen like that? I told you, I could’ve cleaned.”

“It is truly no problem,” He was fairly sure Lucy had immediately appeared in the room right after their exit anyway. “And you should go home and rest your foot as soon as possible.”

“Alright then, I know you get stubborn when you want to protect me.” He said it with half annoyance half fondness into his voice – how dare he blaming him, according to Toby in this city even burritos were dangerous enough to be considered weapons against mountain trolls. It all disappeared under a bright smile. “We’re getting pretty good at this, having dates that don’t involve me being emotionally imbalanced or you being torn from the inside by unspoken truths.” The prince couldn’t help a giggle. “Not bad for your romance teacher, huh?”

They possessed a similar ego. One extremely easy to deflate too.

“Indeed. Although if I may pose a request to my educator regarding relationship matters, I would like to skip a particular lesson.” The blonde arched his eyebrow. “The one regarding how to accidentally ask the guy you are interested in on a date, only to realize it horvaths later. I am not sure of the knowledgeable validity of it.”

“… if I’m forbitten from talking to Aja about your embarrassing stories, you are forbitten from talking alone with Mary… or Steve… or Logan!” The blonde groaned under his breath something about ‘I hate my friends’ and ‘actually I don’t have friends’ and ‘except Darci bless Darci’. “I’ve influenced you so bad. No scratch that, you were a bomb of sass ready to explode in the sky of Arcadia, I just lighted the fuse.” The prince laughed again. Seamus laughed too. Then he stopped, looking towards the road, then back at him. “… Krel?” He wasn’t smiling anymore, yet he wasn’t frowning either. “Are you going to be okay here?” He looked caring, worried.

He had all reasons to.

The question came unattended only because the prince had expected it to come sooner. Perhaps they had both been too caught up enjoying the time they had so restlessly fought for, into a house emptied of so many voices. There was silence behind the prince’s back, absolute and unsettling. It was unlike anything he had ever faced before, because he had never confronted anything without Aja. Perhaps that was why he wanted… he needed this challenge. He had made his mind, he did the moment he had thought of staying the first time.

He nodded.

“Yes, of course. Perhaps not immediately,” He had promised not to lie anymore. “But I will manage. It will simply take some time to get used to it, it is all very new and a bit overwhelming. I was never alone before.”

“… you still aren’t. You know that, right?” Their eyes met. It was so obvious but it was so nice hearing it. This guy was smart. It was an overwhelming thought as Seamus hugged him, brushing away all of his worries. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call. Me or anyone else, we’re all here for you.” He truly hoped so. He knew the moment his mind was to come back to reality, everything was going to be instable again. Krel leaned into his arms, nodding against his shoulder, trying to take the most from this moment alone. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” They slowly backed away, arms wrapped around each other.

It was hard to leave every time. This once a little more.

“I will see you then.” He didn’t want this to be a melancholic goodbye. This wasn’t a sad delson, this wasn’t at all a sad day. “… beforehand, though…” So the prince smirked, his hands slipping onto boyfriend’s shoulders. “I think partaking in the goodnight kiss is a given.”

Seamus beamed, reaching for his waist.

“You do learn from my romance lessons!”

“You might be an unprofessional teacher,” Krel leaned forward, seeing his math blonde meeting him halfway there. “But you are not a bad one at all.” Finally there were no more annoying robots around to interrupt. The mind reader had been his most useless invention after all: the way Seamus’ eyes softly closed told him all that was on his mind.

Kleb, he used to laugh at his sister’s uselessly romantic sighs in presence of Steve all the time, and now he could barely hold back a gasp when Seamus tilted his head to kiss him more deeply. His hand was on his hip, keeping him grounded into this beautiful reality of them. This had never changed, this non-verbal way of communicating with each other had always been plenty of eloquent, with them being so clumsy at fully expressing themselves. Now that they were closer than ever this felt freeing, liberating even. When the blonde pulled away, caressing his cheekbone with his thumb, the prince almost didn’t want to open his eyes. When he did, Seamus’ smile disappeared. But his eyes were glimmering, like he was seeing something he liked in the prince’s expression.

Krel couldn’t help a sigh when he leaned furthermore, holding tightly onto his wide shoulders. His face felt so warm, his core as well. When Seamus backed away again the prince closed the gap once more, with a grin that he immediately felt it mimicked onto his lips. It felt relieving, it felt right. He had learned so much from this person, and he wanted to continue doing so. His arms circled his neck, his mind felt lighter and lighter-

The loudest noise ever almost made fall on the ground. Instead, he held onto his guy, who pulled away with a smack and a sigh, irritation all over his face. The noise pulsed again, a now recognizable horn, and the prince finally noticed the car parked near the street.

A familiar black one. With an equally familiar but less welcoming face leaning out of the window.

“Hey!!” Mr. Johnson was frowning heavily, but then again Krel had rarely seen it not doing it. Perhaps it was simply his natural facial structure. “I offered you a lift son, I didn’t offer to assist to this dang view! Get in the car!” As to emphasize his point he pushed the horn a few more times, each press more unpleasant than the other – did he record his own screaming voice to produce such an annoying instrument, because that would have explained it.

Krel let his hands fall down, while Seamus glared at his father. He had seen his angry outbursts before, this one seemed an annoyance at best. It still bothered him.

“Does he continue to give you many problems?”

“He’ll always the bane of my existence, but it’s getting better. For once I’m not looking forward to another year of school just to leave that house, I call that an improvement.” He shrugged, adjusting his grip on the crutches. Then he gave a look at the car, smirked, and reached for the prince’s cheek for another kiss – Mr. Johnson’s groan must have been heard by all of Arcadia. Warm, always so very warm. He pulled away with a smile. “I’m going then. Text me later?” Krel nodded eagerly, letting him go not without reluctance.

The blonde carried himself to the car with the usual stubbornness, getting quickly on the seat to avoid any awkward attempt of help from his father. He waved at the prince. His eyes didn’t leave him for a sekton, while the vehicle started to move away. When he turned the corner and disappeared from his view, suddenly there was no one else around, no one at all.

The place was desert.

Krel swallowed, looking down at his shoes, his human feet. His mind wasn’t distracted anymore, it was so painfully aware he almost forgot where he was. He imagined himself in front of the wormhole instead, seeing his people crossing the portal like it was nothing, happy and proud that they could finally come back to a peaceful realm. It should had been his mentality too. It should had been his triumph, his prize after fighting so much, after making the impossible again and again. When they had landed on Earth that scenario had been the hope making him go forward, the light guiding his tortuous path. Somewhere in the way though, it faded, or it was switched off, or it became so much less shining than anything else. Yet it had been important, it had been the plan, and now the weight of that promise not kept felt like so much to bear again.

The evening was silent, so very quiet. It wasn’t normal, it didn’t seem normal. Was this how it felt to be on his own? It was so, so very new for him. He couldn’t say he liked it very much. Not having Varvatos or Zadra around was unsettling. Not having Aja, or Luug, or his parents, felt like his entire world had gotten scarily wider. He couldn’t control it. He couldn’t do anything about it.

With a shaking hand he opened the door of the house, stepping inside. His lips were trembling, his vision was getting misty. Was this normal? Was it not? Was this a mistake after a-

A trembling sound shook him awake. An equally shaky breath left his mouth. It was his phone, on the table, the screen was lightened up. A faint hope cleared up his mind, his surroundings turned back to being consistent. The reddish brick walls, the wide windows covered in curtains, the geometric carpets covering the floor. With another breath he reached for the table, picking it up with both hands. The number of notifications displayed made him relax his shoulders, and despite the uncertainty very vivid into his core, he couldn’t help smiling.

Toby : I wasn’t kidding that time when I talked about sleepovers, let’s do it soon!

Toby : I got Nougat Nummies for the ages Krelito!

Blonde oaf : I promise I won’t punch you in the face like last time so prepare yourself bro

Blonde oaf : We’re getting burritos one of these days

Queen of the bees : Next time you have a date with Seamus call me

Queen of the bees : I’m taking you shopping

Queen of the bees : You’re welcome

Darci : If you need something call anytime you want, me or my dad

Math blonde : I mean it, you’re not alone

Math blonde : See you tomorrow Krel

That stubborn guy must had sent the message as soon as he got into the car. His lips were still warm of his kisses. Kleb, this situation was a massive jump out of his comfort zone, a rushed decision he had pondered over so much that was now revealing all of its cons. Yet with all of this support, all of these people, it was really hard to focus solely on the bad sides.

“Sweetie, could you close the door?” He almost let his phone fall onto the ground. What a joke would have been if after surviving all those massive close calls, Krel was to die of a core-attack caused by his domestic robots. “Aww, don’t you look adorable all flushed like that!” Lucy grinned, turning to the sink again. “Before you go to your room would you be a darling and dry the dishes for me? Then you can go watch the TV, Jeopardy should be up soon!” She was already at work, humming a mindless tune. Despite the Earth knowledge into her head being mostly confusing, Lucy was closer to being human than a being of Akiridion provenience.

Maybe because it seemed like a human thing to do, or maybe the early conversation about lazy princes got stuck into his head – curse that blonde tease and his persuasive powers over him –, but Krel decided to oblige without a word. He put himself near the robot lady, grabbed a cloth and started to wipe the dishes. That much he could do – an idiot could do it, and he was very much not –, it was only a few objects. The rushing water was almost pleasant in a way.

Although it was a little weird seeing Lucy without her counterpart.

“Where is Ricky?”

“Oh, he’s probably avoiding cleaning up, being a lazy-pants!” She cackled like mad as usual, and Krel had reached his limit regarding Earth useless costumes today so he did not want to unpack whatever an slothful cloth was supposed to be. “Enough about him, how was your evening? Your boy is an absolute sweetheart!” Pointless talk as always, especially since she had been here.

“Huh, it went well. Seamus is… amazing.” His core responded nicely. Truth felt really good.

“I’m so happy to hear it my dear!” She wasn’t even looking at him, she was mindlessly cleaning the glasses at ridiculous speed. “Your father and I have been a little worried before, but you’re a grown-up boy now and you can deal with your own problems!” Was this a human thing again? Were human moms this prone to talk about their children’s partners? How could he know? “You found such a dearie as a boyfriend, I hope it makes you happy, as you deserve!” How could he know? He couldn’t. This never happened to him… never with his actual parents.

Krel battled his eyelids rapidly, feeling the burn arriving and quickly leaving. His feet were still tickling for those rapid dance lessons, his hands around the rough cloth were distracted. Lucy passed him another object to dry, it was the container where the lass-anya had been.

He smiled.

“He does, he makes me very happy.” Lucy beamed at him – again, quite literally.

“Howdie everyone, I’m back!!” Humans were notoriously adaptable creature, perhaps that was the reason why the fourth time this tin can was barging in didn’t faze him as much as before – progress. “Aww, look at my wife and my son spending time together! Aren’t you too adorable to look at!” That grin seemed ready to tear apart his cheeks. “Like two peas in a-” The sudden glitch interrupted whatever weird human expression he was about to exclaim, and spasm of his body made him bump against the wall. In a very vivid bump his head detached from his body, clinking onto the pavement and rolling all over the carpet.

A Blank malfunctioning wasn’t unheard of. Not on Akiridion-5, not since they had arrived here. Yet something about the way the human appearing face was still displaying that wide smile made him absolutely sure that, for human standards, that was messed up.

For him, luckily, it was simply a nuisance. He pressed a hand over his face.

“Seriously, Ricky? Could you be any clumsier?” He kneeled down, grabbing the head and looking at the joints. At first glance, he was fairly sure there was something potentially wrong – which was a nice way of saying something was definitely wrong. “And do not answer that, it was as the humans say, ‘a rhetorical question’.” A query made solely for the sake of making a statement. The apotheosis of human’s ridiculousness.

Lucy snickered behind him, pointing at the fallen body part.

“I guess he went over his head!”

“Ah, but I’m heading your way!”

“You’re not heading anywhere, quit talking nonsense while I take a look at you!” Why were Blanks so weird and why was Lucy looking like she was holding back even more laughter? Whatever. The connections of the wires were indeed unusual. Even worse, they had been put together approximately, like they had been tied together instead of being fully fixed. “This is amateurish work, it would not be sustainable to repair a- wait, repair?” He turned the head, meeting his fake dad’s eyes. “Did you head fall before?” Was clumsiness sharp enough to cut titanium wires?

Lucy laughed once again, taking the head from his hands and petting the hair like they belonged to an Earth domestical animal. Like Luug covered in fungus… he didn’t want to think about another important figure of his life that wasn’t present.

“It was nothing serious, your father was a bit of a reckless potato! You could say he headed straight into danger!” Another synchronized laugh, they were way too timed. “We had a little vacation on the road, but he jumped out of the van too soon! It was around that time, during the neighborhood party with the lasers and those monstrosities as attractions! So tacky altogether!” There was either a problem with their reality check, or humans from that age were really that gullible.

It was a matter for another time. For now all the prince could focus on was the time Morando had attacked the house to get into his parents’ memories. He knew that these two had been kidnapped along with Varvatos, Toby, Eli and Steve while trying to buy them time. He knew that it took a while to break free and get to the ship again. He knew… that…

Krel widened his eyes, snatching the head from the robot’s hands.

“Great Gaylen, that was weeks ago!” That enormous grin opened, most likely to chatter about just another nonsensical fact, but this prince wasn’t having it. “Do not talk, you have sustained enough damage already! A Blank keeping a damaging to its main controls for too long can affect its memory and functioning! You two went through much more excitement than a regular Blank already, you should never keep quiet about such matters! Why did you not tell me??” His voice had gone up without his consent and he couldn’t help it, it was burning into his throat. His sight was getting misty, frustration and disappointment were building up. Again.

Lucy seemed taken back for a moment, Then she smiled and oh, Krel recognized it. No matter the planet, all mothers had that curve. It said that he didn’t have to worry, that it was fine.

“You were so busy honey, and your father only needs an aspirin for his headache anyway!” She moved to take the head from him again. “We’re your parents, it’s our job to worry!” She extended her hands.

Krel moved a step back. His mind had gone white for a sekton. No, that wasn’t it. He had remembered something else, an image so painfully strong it took over. His parents in front of him, smiling peacefully like nothing was about to happen, taking over their duty for the sake of their children. He had dreamed about that moment so many times already. It was still fresh, it was still so very heavy over his core he could barely handle the thought. He used to think he had made progresses on this planet, he thought that he was beyond being a helpless little prince that couldn’t even fight for what he truly wanted. He thought he had changed.

… and he did. It was about something that humans called resilience.

The prince clenched his fists, unwilling to let himself be victim of his own insecurities once again. He was beyond who he used to be, no matter what happened, no matter how much it kept hurting. He hadn’t been able to do anything back then, but he could most definitely do something now. The least he could do to honor the king and queen’s sacrifice, was to make the best of what he had now: a messy, unexpected, absolutely lively life.

Lucy was giving him a curious look. He must had gone silent for a while. He checked the damage again, noticing a few bolts missing and a bit of reconstruction needed to reattach to the rest of the body. Nothing he couldn’t handle. Absolutely nothing he couldn’t handle.

“I do appreciate your worry, and I’m aware that your will to protect me comes from the best intentions.” He wasn’t sure to which parents he was referring to right now. It felt like it didn’t necessarily matter. “But as you look after me, please allow me to take care of you as well. We are in this together, and I am able to do that.” He was not a shallow prince, this was not a fine hobby, they were not on a random mudball. Despite the deep sorrow that most likely was never going to leave his core, there was a deep sense of awareness in him that no one could take away.

The Blanks were silent, and that was worrying. Krel turned Ricky’s head himself, and the man was giving him a surprised look. Then he beamed at him, getting back to his giddiness. The rest of Ricky’s body got up with a jump, pressing his hands over the empty whole between his shoulders and proceeding to blindly look for his missing piece.

It barely came as a surprise that it hit the counter and fell onto the ground all over again. At last, normality had been restored.

“I can’t say no to that manly confidence! I guess I’m in your hands!”

“Oh honey, you’re on a roll today! You’re handling it so well!”

“How did humans become easier to understand than you two?” The difference between earthlings coming from fifty keltons prior and the current ones couldn’t be this massive, right? Ah, no matter, better focus on the work ahead. “Sweet Seklos, I fail to imagine how you have managed to keep your head on until now.” More unexplainable snickers followed. “This will definitely need more spare parts, the prolonged absence of maintenance made the edges irregular too… ay ay ay, where do I find trans-dimensional processors on this planet?” Normal arranged components would have just made Ricky clumsier than he already was – going beyond impossibility.

While he was pondering Lucy was in action again, after putting the dried dishes into the cabinets. She took that one long tool she liked to play with for some reason and swinged around.

“Here comes the conga broom! All aboard!!” Handling the staff the woman caught the body of her husband and put his hands over her hips, moving forward with some sort of rhythm. Another dance? How many styles existed? Something else… he and Seamus could try? “… oh honey, you left a bit of something on the floor! Be less messy next time, okay?” She winked at him, swinging around so fast the papers that were found on the ground were raised in the air.

Krel hurried to catch them, Ricky’s head under his arm, finding three of Seamus’ flyers for work. The Blank’s cranium moved forward to look, scrunching his nose to move his glass up – failing.

“‘Guitar lessons by Douxie call the number below’, ‘Seeking babysitter for a thousand babies no this is not a prank’, ‘Looking for titanic worker, wait until July for the rise of the job’. So many options, man, your boyfriend sure is ambitious!”

“It would appear so.” Was that hardworking attitude in him what Mary would have called his ‘type’? He wasn’t sure what that had to do with calligraphy. He was even less sure if it was a separated characteristic he enjoyed, or it would have been completely unattractive on anyone that wasn’t Seamus. He wasn’t that interested in finding out. “I will give these back the next time I see him… mm?” Another flier took his attention, unlike the others it had some kind of geometric blue symbol, quite shaped like a rocket, with words drawn in the middle. “‘Hex Tech, solve your problems as if by magic’… does this include Akiridion tech problems?” It was unlikely, but the option didn’t seem completely unappealing.

Krel didn’t want to call to Akiridion-5 yet. He really wished to settle into his new condition without the thought of his sister and his people shaking his mind. He knew that Stuart was extraordinary busy right now, between training Seargent Costas as his new coworker and dealing with a growing and very interested clientele – turned out being an admirer and close confidant of Akiridions helped supporting a business. This Hex of a place seemed like the best choice at the moment.

It was decided. After a moment of pondering and concluding that yes, perhaps dragging the head of a suppose human around these streets was a little too much – the Arcadians could had used a break –, Krel retrieved his backpack from his room to put Ricky’s head inside, who sounded ecstatic.

“Finally a father-son bonding vacation! I can’t wait to spend some time with my boy!”

“Refrain from talking until you are out of the bag, okay? We will not stay out long anyway.”

“Have fun you two! Oh, and be careful out there sweetie!” Lucy was playing around still, dragging the long broom object all over the place. “You’re so cute, someone might decide to capture you to put you in their pocket!” She giggled, shaking her head like it was such a hopeless thought – considering the amount of time he had been kidnapped it wasn’t the least. “Never mind that! Just don’t talk to strangers, don’t cross the street without looking, and come back home soon!”

Home.

Right, home.

Krel widened his eyes, his body suddenly lighter. Then he smiled.

He waved goodbye to his ‘mom’ and headed outside. The sky was getting darker and darker by the mekron, all around were the artificial lights of the houses of the stars appearing above. The warm and nice air of the night filled his chest then flowly left, floating all around him. One step, two step, his mind was suddenly very interested in the sound his feet were making onto the ground, then onto the sidewalk. There was such an easiness around him, it was not only the silence of a lazy part of the day, it was something else.

Perhaps it was him. It was definitely him. It was a quietness inside and outside his core, one he had learned not to trust too much yet to enjoy as much as it could while it lasted.

Arcadia Oaks welcomed him passing by. Krel didn’t like walking, and he hated even more running. He pretty much despised anything that involved dealing with the outdoor, with how unclean and wild it was. With that in his mind, showing a certain amused grin to no one and everyone, he accelerated, stepping onto a nearby flowerbed for a sekton solely for the sake of it.

He was thinking that it was ridiculous. He was thinking that his planet was ridiculous, and this was another delson, another day to do nothing and everything. One day.

It had been a while. It had been so long, since he had looked forward for his tomorrow.

BONUS

Your majesty : Our planet is really ridiculous.

You : Still restless your majesty? It’s getting late

You : But I’m curious and I suspect you’re gonna give me context on this one

Your majesty : What kind of brainless human being decided that creating such an annoying and socially unavoidable form of waiting was an acceptable idea? This is why this society is failing to reach its full potential, because all humans are forced to stay put for their own turn to show off their numbered tiny paper instead of reaching their goal into life immediately

Your majesty : Alas, it might be too late

You : Huh?

You : …

You : Oohh, you discovered lines

You : Yeah, I don’t have an excuse for that, they’re super annoying, and I’m talking as someone who went through major lines in office supply stores to get stuff for dad

You : Isn’t it a bit late to walk around town though? Where are you in line?

Your majesty : Hex Tech, which is less primitive than most of Earth I have seen until now, but not by much. It turned out Ricky lost his head during the time when Kubritz attacked our ship and he had failed to successfully reattach it. I need some spare parts

You : …

You : I think this is the first time I get one of your messages at first try

You : Is he okay? Never thought I’d ask this about someone who lost his head…

Your majesty : He is perfectly fine and content, I believe he is currently facing the math book I left into my backpack and composing annoying human expressions as a consequence. He is questioning something about why plants hate math and then answering to himself. I believe Senor Uhl is ignoring his voice only for my sake

You : Senor Uhl is there too?

Your majesty : Yes, I believe it has something to do with his computer. He smiled at me when I sat next to him, I don’t think I have ever seen him do that genuinely before

Your majesty : He also asked me how I am doing, he was nice

Your majesty : But while I respect his persona quite a lot, the context we are in made me uncomfortable, for reasons that escape me

You : Doesn’t matter if you’re human, Akiridion, troll and what else

You : Seeing your teacher out of school is always awkward

Your majesty : I will accept this as a universal law only because it does feel universal this time

Your majesty : I believe it is my turn

You : You defeated the evil social engagement, congratulations

You : …

You : Krel? Are you still there? You got your parts?

You : Did you go back home?

You : Or you fell asleep?

You : I’ll see you tomorrow then

You : Goodnight your majesty

Last online, three hours ago

Your majesty : Seamus?

Your majesty : Seamus are you awake?

Your majesty : Seamus?

You : Waop

You : Wait

You : Wow it’s late, what are you doing still awake?

You : Are you okay?

Your majesty : Physically I am perfectly healthy, but I am not sure I can answer your question affirmatively. To be more specific, it seems that no one will be fine if this matter won’t be solved so I guess I am not okay

You : I’m way too sleepy for your convoluted texts, please have mercy

You : Do you need anything? I can come over

Your majesty : I am not currently at home and in any case I do not wish that, you are injured and you need plenty of rest to fully regenerate the missing cells of your body

You : Are you distracting me? Or keeping me out of something else?

You : You know I don’t like that and you promised me not to do that anymore

Your majesty : Quite the opposite actually, no matter how much I am against it

Your majesty : Despite my ability at dealing with technological tools, I have learned what it means to swim only during that one day where you brought me to the beach. I am in no way practical regarding surfing, especially if it involves whatever net keeps all the digital information together on this planet

You : Again, too sleepy to follow the reasoning

You : All I’m getting is another endearing misinterpretation of yours, and that you need me?

Your majesty : Exactly

Your majesty : You are the smartest human I know after all

You : Oh well, if you resort to this kind of flattery there’s no way I could say no, but how do I help you if I’m not coming? Should I call you?

Your majesty : No need, Toby has an idea

Your majesty : Apparently you should be able to arrive through an entanglement of some sort, he mentioned something about a web and that it’s going to be like you were actually here. Coming through a web. Come through a web, web come? Something like that

You : …

You : You are so cute

You : I’m not even surprised that Domzalski is involved into whatever weirdness this is, just let him handle the webcam when you need

You: At what time are we talking about?

Your majesty : I actually would need your help right now

You : Now? Really? Shouldn’t we at least wait until tomorrow morning?

Your majesty : If this situation turns out as bad as Toby has briefly explained it to me there might not be a morning to begin with, or a tomorrow at all

You : Huh?

You : …

You : Oh wow, end of the world? Again?

Your majesty : It would appear so

You : Dang it

Your majesty : Dang it indeed