Chapter Text
A regular day. Nothing seemed off. Shlorpians and replicants wandered about their cities, conducting their daily business. The two suns shone in the sky brightly. It wasn't just a regular day, however. There was something odd in the air. Something concerning.
"Does something feel off to you?" Korvo asked one of his friends, Yorvak, another ship technician.
"You're just anxious," the other shrugged. The two continued to work on the ship.
"I don't think it's just anxiety," Korvo said, looking upwards, toward the sky. "It's something more."
"Korv, you're always stressed about something," Yorvak said, shrugging. He sat his screwdriver down, and placed his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Take a break, okay? I don't think it's anything we need to be worried about."
"I'm still worried, Yorv," Korvo said, sitting down outside his ship. Yorvak sighed with a smile.
"I need to meet with my Pupa expert soon," he said as he sat down. "But I'll stay with you for a while."
"But you're shipping off soon," Korvo said.
"Don't worry about it, okay, Korv? You're more important than some stupid mission," he replied.
"So who is your expert?" Korvo asked. The other laughed.
"Quorzen," he said. "The guy's an idiot. Who'd you get?"
"Terry," he replied.
"Woah, woah , smoke show Terri, or her dumbass boyfriend Terry," Yorvak asked.
"He and the replicants are in the ship right now! Shh!" Korvo warned. "But it's dumbass Terry. It's alright though. Don't get me wrong, he is very stupid, but he's endearing. He isn't too bad to talk too."
"Lucky you," he said. "Quorzen is likely to kill our Pupa as soon as we get one, so that'll be fun."
"You didn't get a Pupa yet? Weird. Terry just got ours. It's in the ship right now," Korvo said. "It–"
He stood up suddenly, looking toward the sky. Yorvak stood up as well. In the sky, the second sun seemed bigger than before.
"What the hell is that?" Korvo asked. Yorvak shielded his eyes as he looked up.
"Oh, fuck, that isn't a second sun! We only have one sun!" the alien shouted. It was a large asteroid, and it was coming toward Shlorp at a rapid speed.
"Shit, shit! Get on your ship!" Korvo shouted, running up the ramp to his own. Yorvak looked between his friend and the asteroid.
"It's too far away!" he shouted. People were starting to yell, now noticing the immediate danger.
"Then get into mine!" he shouted, reaching his hand out to the other. "No one's going to mind! Just come with me! Just stay with me!"
Yorvak looked in the direction of his own faraway ship, up at the asteroid, then into Korvo's eyes. He ran toward the ramp to the ship, arm outstretched to take the other's hand, eyes still locked. The ship started to take flight, and Yorvak stopped running. His mouth formed the words "I love–" and the asteroid hit. The asteroid hit as soon as the ship left. The ramp shut on its own as Korvo heard the screams of his fellow Shlorpians.
"Yorvak!" Korvo shouted, shooting up in bed.
"Korv?" Terry said, sitting up as he woke up. Korvo was sitting up, knees to his chest, clutching his head, swear pouring down his forehead. There were tears streaming down his face. "Woah, Korvy, what's wrong?"
"Yorvak," he breathed, turning to Terry, still crying.
"Yorvak?" the other repeated. "Who?"
"He was my best friend, Terry," Korvo explained. "We'd known each other since we were young replicants! We were best friends, Terry! It's my fault that he's dead now! I could have saved him!"
"Saved him?" the other asked before it dawned on him. "Did he die on Shlorp when it exploded?" Korvo nodded. "Korv, you couldn't have done anything! You know that! A lot of us died when Shlorp exploded."
"But I almost saved him! He was so close! If he wouldn't have hesitated for that split second, then he wouldn't be dead," the blue alien said. Terry moved to sit on his knees, facing the other.
"Korvo, look, we all have regrets," he said, sounding a lot wiser than he usually did. "I had a good group of friends. Real good guys, not too bright, but loyal. I had a best friend, Zantrel. But there's nothing I regret more than our last day on Shlorp. Zantrel and I fought for hours, arguing over some thing I don't remember. That was the day before the last. On the last day of Shlorp, Zantrel sent me some message saying he wanted to meet up and talk. That was in the morning. I decided to not talk to him, thinking I'd talk to him the next day and apologize for our fight. I thought I had time. Korv, not a day goes by that I don't think about the fact that I could have hugged my brother one last time."
"I . . . I didn't know any of that," Korvo said quietly. Terry shrugged.
"I don't like talkin' 'bout the sad stuff," he said. "I'd rather talk about something happy. I don't like remembering his face."
"A lot of good Shlorpians were lost," Korvo said. Terry nodded, leaning his head on Korvo's shoulder from where they sat against the headboard. "Terry, do you ever miss our lives on Shlorp?"
"Well," he said with a sigh. "Yeah, sometimes. I mean, I had a girlfriend, didn't know shit about Pupas, and ended up a Pupa "expert". You were a genius, you had your ship-build-y stuff, and you did your thing with Yorvak. I hope Terri and her little sidepiece, Reeyia got teamed up."
"Terry, you know none of them could have possibly made it out alive, right?" Korvo asked.
"Let's just pretend, okay?" Terry said. He closed his eyes and hugged Korvo, snuggling into his side. "Close your eyes and just pretend that everything is okay. Life can go exactly how you want it. What is your perfect home?"
Korvo closed his eyes, thinking. He wrapped his arm around Terry, leaning his head on Terry's while the other's rested on his shoulder. Terry sighed, smiling.
"It would be back on Shlorp, and it never would have blown up," Korvo said. "I have a ship that works, and we don't have to be on stupid Earth. You're there, and Terri-with-an-i and humans don't exist. And there's a dome in the ceiling above my bed that opens up so we can see the stars."
"Dork," Terry giggled.
"What about you?" Korvo asked, his face flushing. Terry looked into the other's eyes, kissing his cheek gently.
"Home is wherever I'm with you," he said. Korvo pulled him closer, kissing his hand as their fingers intertwined.
"Sap," Korvo said.
"But, seriously, though," Terry said honestly. "I could be anywhere, and as long as I'm with you, I'll be happy. I mean it. I could be in Hell, and as long as you were there, it would feel like fuckin' Heaven. I don't care if you hate me. As long as you're there, I'll be happy."
Korvo, smiled, kissing the other's neck. Terry grinned as well as he laid down, pulling his partner down with him. Terry kicked the blankets out of the way as Korvo began kissing down his neck.
However their relations didn't last long before there was a knock on the door. Korvo moved off his partner and Terry let out a small, disappointed whine. Blankets were hastily pulled back into place, though both still had his clothes on. The door was pushed open, and the two were greeted by both their replicants, Jesse holding tightly onto the Pupa, which was now Cornflower Blue.
"Hello?" Terry offered upon seeing the rest of the family. "What's up?"
"I had a dream where ants became super huge and tried to eat us and it was really scary, 'cause I don't like bugs," Jesse whined.
"What's wrong with you?" Terry asked Yumyulack.
"Jesse told me about her dream and it freaked me out, so now I can't sleep either," the other replicants admitted. Jesse rubbed her eyes with her fist, yawning as she held the Pupa.
"Can we sleep here tonight?" she asked.
"It's up to Korvo," Terry said, turning to look at his partner.
"Alright, alright," Korvo finally agreed.
Jesse cheered, and crawled into bed on Terry's side, pulling the blankets over her, the Pupa having wriggled from her grasp. Yumyulack laid down on his back on the far side next to Jesse, so that the girl was in between he and Terry. Yumyulack laid on his back, Jesse's arm slung over his face from where she also lay on her back. Terry, between Korvo and Jesse, lay on his side, one arm under the pillow as he watched over his replicants. Korvo, on the very end, wrapped an arm around Terry's waist, face towards the back of his partner's head. Korvo placed a kiss on the back of Terry's neck, causing the other to smile.
"Good night," he said quietly. The replicants' breathing had now evened, but he was sure Terry was still asleep.
"'Night, Korvy," Terry replied. His hand intertwined with Korvo's, which was over his chest. He gave Korvo's hand a small kiss. Quieter, in barely a whisper, Terry said: "I love you."
"I . . . l-love you too," Korvo responded, pulling the other closer to him.
Eventually, Terry was asleep as well, and the Pupa had curled up against Korvo's back. Everyone was asleep now, except Korvo. He laid in silence, listening to the breathing and soft snores of his team. His family . He sighed, smiling, and drifted off into sleep as well. No horrible dreams of his late friend came to him. He was at peace. He had spent so long trying to make a new planet Shlorp to make a new home that he hadn't realized he was already home. Because, regardless of where he was, he was always home when he was with his family.