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There were a series of rhythmic beeps that echoed through the room, and the the two robots turned to look at the source. It was a small handheld device, beeping and buzzing up a storm. The call had a very small number on it, a ten digit one. The two robots confusedly looked at each other before hurriedly grabbing the object and taking off with a whir down the hallway. This was an Earth number.
They pushed past the crew members, and took the service lines to the flight deck where a young man stood pacing around the captain's chair.
"Sir." one of the two called out.
No response.
"Sir, you have an incoming call." the other added.
The man who was pacing was deep in thought, his cold, deep coffee eyes would flick between the steel floor and the vast expanse that lay outside his front window. He was searching and waiting for something to happen, unsure of what his next move should be. What...what on earth was that incessant beeping?
"Captain." a robot chimed again.
"Hmm?" came a soft response.
"You have a call."
The beeping stopped, and the robots looked immensely disappointed that they couldn't get the Earth call to their commander. The seemed to deflate, their hydraulics causing them to lower a little closer to the floor.
But the captain didn't realize the beeping had stopped, and had stepped closer to the window to trail his eyes over the expansive void laying out around him. He wondered if his lover, the one who sat millions and millions of light-years away, was looking at his quadrant. He wondered if they were watching his every move in the cosmos. The beeping is louder now.
"Captain Wen Junhui." the two robots chimed in unison. "You have a phone call from Earth."
Junhui's mind snapped out of his thoughts, and he scrambled for the device in the grasp of the robots.
"Hello?" He muttered, breathless.
"Junhui, it's me."
"They let you call!?" he exclaimed, twirling around the flight deck.
There was a soft chuckle on the other end of the call, one that Junhui knew all to well.
"Will you tell me what you see outside today?" the deep voice asked curiously.
The stars that surrounded him, both near and far seemed to appear faint when compared to the twinkle that sparkled through Junhui's eyes. He stood near the window and took a deep breath.
"Beyond my ship's window...today lies the body of the ship. It's grey in today's light, as there isn't really a sun too close to us. We have external lights on currently; there's a report of an asteroid storm moving through the system we're in."
He could almost see those kind eyes crinkling at the corners. They sat in mission control, all the way back on his home planet of Earth. Next mission, however, Junhui swore he was going to bring his husband with him, letting him have a small job of programming upon the ship.
"....Now, we left a planet not too long ago, we beamed a petroleum signal to them and they responded by sending a tug ship up to guide us into docking to their station. I took a craft down to the surface, Wonwoo..you would have loved it. The flora....almost as breathtaking as you. I preserved one, and the specimen is coming with us, and once analyzed, it's all yours."
"I can't believe they let you get away with taking doubles of all the flowers you see on other planets."
"Technically they don't, but they haven't officially told me no yet."
"Well then wh-" he cut off slowly, the faint sound of a conversation getting caught by the receiver.
"Wonwoo?" Junhui questioned frantically, afraid something outside of his control--hell, his reach--was happening.
"They're telling me we're gonna get cut off. That storm has a bit of solar wind with it, and it's going to interfere in a few minutes."
Junhui's heart ached, he wanted to talk to his love as often as he could but his space travel limited it only for every two or so weeks.
"Wonwoo."
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love yo-"
Junhui's eyes widened, and he cried the other's name into the receiver a few times before hearing the quiet beeping of the solar wind alert appear on his monitor. He slumped into his captain's seat, and shut his phone, feeling empty that their call cut off so abruptly. He clenched his jaw and steeled himself for his mission, about to take control again when a message appeared on his monitor. Curious, he slid it to the main screen, the one that doubled as his window and pressed open.
His unit's logo appeared briefly on the screen as a video loaded up.
And there, his heart and soul, the love of his life appeared on screen; Junhui's heart lit up brighter than the comets rushing past the ship.
"Hey...uh...hey! That storm cut us off!" Wonwoo said in the video. "I...can't hear you, but you can see and hear me so I'll finish what I was trying to say!" he pushed up his dorky round glasses, and smiled softly. "I love you too. Junhui, don't you ever forget that! Your the star commander of your crew, a-and...your the star in my...my galaxy."
Junhui's cheeks burned a bright red, and his heart rattled against his cage. He knew Wonwoo was struggling to be cheesy, he wasn't very confident in his cheesball skills in front of other people.
"Okay. Okay. They're telling me it's time to say goodbye. But goodbye sounds heavy, and makes it feel like it's an ending to something. So i'm going to say 'see you later', because I'm going to see you later." Wonwoo seemed sad, as he always did at the end of their calls, he too missed Junhui with all his heart and soul, "I'll call you again in a few weeks. Please journey safely." he mumbled in that soft voice of his. He shined a final smile at the camera in front of him, the exact kind that made his husband feel butterflies for the nth time since they'd been together. His eyes disappeared with the smile, and Junhui felt a sense of peace and calm wash over him.
The screen went dark, and Junhui sat up in his chair, a smile beaming across his face, spread from ear to ear. But he was crying..why was he crying?
"I have tissues, Captain."
He took one, and wiped his eyes, a new found drive had taken root in his soul. He sprang to his feet and beamed at the crew.
"Let's wrap this up guys, I think we oughta make a trip back home."