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Tyra and Joshua found themselves back in their cots, redressed, hands joined at the small space between them. Strange how calm she felt in that moment. The fact that she had tossed her life away seemed like such an insignificant speck. A whole new existence stretched out before her, a new tunnel carved into her fate into something beautiful. There were always uncertainties with any relationship, but Tyra felt as though those were crushed under their union. Joshua and Tyra against the galaxy. It should have been a terrifying thought. It wasn’t. Indeed, it seemed so wonderful.

“You know, if we could live here forever, I think I could do it,” he said.

That was drunk love talking, she knew. “I would, as well,” she replied. And she was just as inebriated.

“Still, wish I could bring you back home. Y’know, on Earth.” He shrugged. “Not sure how my dad would’ve felt about me bringing home an alien girl, though. Or my mom.” Joshua pursed his lips. “They’d probably just be happy I finally got a smart gal. Guess there would be the problem of grandkids.”

“The possibility of adoption always remains,” she replied.

“But would we get one of me or one of you?” He smiled.

“Both.” Tyra nodded. “Both.”

“I can live with that. Do the younger ones go through any sort of…”

“Metamorphosis?” she replied.

“Right.”

Tyra copied a chuckle. “No. The only changes our bodies undergo is molting. Roughly once every 400 days or so, from your perspective.”

“Oh, huh. Are you gonna do that, too?”

“I ended my molting quite some time ago. Once we reach a certain age, it comes to a halt. This is as large as my carapace will get.” She placed a hand on her chest.

“I don’t envy that. Birthdays are already embarrassing enough, but I can’t imagine shedding your whole body like that.”

“It’s quite a refreshing feeling, actually. Though discarding of the molt does bring its own taxing ceremonies.”

“Never even considered it being any other way, but do you have your own birthday?”

“We do have an observed day of birth, but our molting is more of a sign of our growth, so that receives the celebration.”

“Do you still celebrate it, even without the whole molting? I know I said that stuff can be embarrassing, but it’d be a little sad if you stopped having them.”

“Dependent on the individual. Some still try to grow personally and via knowledge.”

“How about you? We could celebrate.”

“Perhaps, but only if we agree to embarrass you on your own birthday.”

“You drive a hard bargain. Sure. If I can even remember when it is,” he replied.

Pictures of a future home life filtered into Tyra’s thoughts. Some picturing bringing Joshua into the fold and having him indulge in all of her customs, and others where she would fully subsume to human habits. She wondered how much of human media truly fit into reality. As much as she called them predictable, there must have been some sort of comfort in their predictability. It’s why humans like them so much, surely. She certainly wouldn’t scoff at the idea of watching them now.

“Guess we should rethink our new home, right? Gotta be somewhere we both like,” he said.

“I think your suggestions were excellent. Though I would prefer an ocean that’s made of fresh water.”

“Ah, salt’s got a way of digging into your shell, huh?”

“Precisely.”

---

The slow days continued on, though markedly calmer than before. The idle chatter filled Tyra with a comfort rather than a sense of nervousness. The newfound closeness made their isolation all the more joyful. They hadn’t yet indulged in more sexual contact, but the thought had certainly wormed its way into her conscious mind every now and again. That didn’t stop them from taking their joint showers, however. She wasn’t even sure how to instigate another sexual venture like that, aside from to ask outright.

Tyra realized they hadn’t made much headway in choosing a new home. She hadn’t bothered with the idea much, since without Joshua, her life felt aimless. Indeed, she hadn’t even checked the solar system they sat in, in the chance any of them were habitable. Unlikely, with the meek star that held this arrangement of planets in orbit. She sat at the navigation console, idly flicking through known worlds while Joshua rested.

Truly, she didn’t mind the idea of staying aboard this little vessel forever. Compared to the grand scheme of things, Tyra figured she deserved a fate much worse than that. It filled her with a bit of a sickening pride. The creature that got away, made a mockery of both sides of the conflict, and roped her enemy into being a lover.

Even if they were to run off to some remote world, with the limited range of the vessel, they would be found eventually. Tyra figured it would take at least a few decades, however. She glanced back at Joshua. Would they even be together for that long? The rush of emotions, she had to admit, despite being genuine, may have been more spur of the moment than she thought.

Tyra resolved, then and there, to make sure their love would last until they both passed into whatever life lay beyond. Little point in fretting about such an uncertain future. They were together, and that was what her thoughts should focus on. It had been months since they first met, hadn’t it? If they truly disliked one another, it would have bled through a long time ago.

The navigation system on-board this vessel had a slightly heftier compliment of planets to peruse. Vesperratus scouting had extended a ways further than what uneasy territories existed, and in-turn, the humans had their own forward bases hidden among dead worlds which had been marked and presumably spied upon. Whoever held a world was largely irrelevant, but it did mean that hiding away from either side would pose something of a challenge.

Briefly, Tyra entertained the notion of going back to that world filled with an endless ocean and tasty bulbous creatures, but it was highly likely the Lithovespan military would remain in that system. Assuming they beat back the humans. It’d be a world considered for claiming, anyways, what with the copious amounts of water. Best avoid planets that both sides would contest, avoiding one bloodthirsty military was hard enough.

Joshua’s words about staying inside the confines of the ship were likely well-meaning, but even he would falter. Humans needed the occasional wide space and fresh air to keep themselves sane. Vesperratus, on the other hand, had no qualms against staying in the dark crevices of their ships. Funny how their inclination toward small spaces had allowed them to better sail among the stars. There were limits, however, and even the hardiest of them needed some new stimulation eventually.

A yawn and a sleepy groan pulled Tyra’s attention from the navigation console. Joshua was sitting upright, rubbing his eyes. He had foregone wearing a shirt for his artificial nighttime after their sexual exploration. He smacked his lips and looked to her.

“Aw, jeez, I was hoping I’d get up first,” he said.

Tyra moved over to the lip of the hole where their cots lay and sat down, legs dangling between them.

“Far too late, I was able to enjoy your snoring,” she replied.

“I don’t snore.” He waved his hand. “I hope I wasn’t too loud.”

“Not at all. Though, I will say, you do mumble the strangest things in your sleep.”

“Alright, alright, just don’t tell anyone about the bee dream.” He reached underneath his cot, grabbing his shirt to wriggle into it. “Aren’t you gonna ask why I wanted to wake up first?”

“Not for the snoring?” Tyra shook her head. “I joke. What was it, Joshua?”

“It’s between your legs, actually.”

Tyra straightened up, horns unfolding.

“The hatch, there, that is,” he said.

“Oh.” Tyra looked down. She spread her legs apart.

Indeed, there was a maintenance hatch there. One she had seen many times but never had given much thought. Joshua scooted closer to it and turned the handle, opening it.

“Ladies first,” he said, presenting it.

Tyra tilted her head, but complied with his polite goading, getting down and crawling into the opening. The tunnel continued a small way before suddenly turning downward. Inside was a small maintenance area bathed in a soft blue light. She lowered herself into it and found a small arrangement of food items and drinks. The ceiling was high enough to sit comfortably with her legs crossed, but not much more than that. There was a clattering, and soon, Joshua was right beside her. He sighed and raised his hands to present the room.

“Well? Whaddya think?” he said.

“I’m not quite sure I understand,” Tyra replied.

“I realized we never got any chances to go out on a date.”

Date. Date… That had a double meaning in English. Oh, yes, a casual get-together between partners! Tyra chuckled.

“Oh, thank you, Joshua.” She looked around the room. “A nice reprieve from the small bridge.”

“And here’s the best part!”

Joshua leaned forward and flicked a switch. There was a quiet whirr, and slats of space became visible at the edges, further illuminating the room. He picked up a sterile container of food, presenting it to her.

“I know it’s not the most romantic meal, but I thought it’d be nice if we could have something like a date.”

“I appreciate it. Thank you.” She leaned over and pressed her mandibles against his cheek, adding a click for authenticity.

Joshua returned the kiss, though far more masterfully with his soft lips and warm body. Upon doing so, Tyra sidled closer to him.

“The stars are beautiful,” she said.

“Not as beautiful as you,” he replied. He smiled. “Bit of a cliché, but I figure you haven’t heard that one before.”

“Something new, certainly.” Tyra nodded. “And something new for you.”

Tyra brought Joshua into a hug. Her body lightly vibrated, creating a quiet chirping. Tyra pressed her head against his, her horns flapping in tandem with her noises. She pulled back from her display.

“Not too strange, I hope,” she said.

“That was really cool!” His eyes widened, light glimmering on them. “I mean, I didn’t know you could do that.”

“One of our more intimate displays. I suppose it’s not far from the words ‘I love you.’ ”

“And I love you.” Joshua gave a soft smile. “Just don’t expect me to do anything as cool as that.”

“Please, Joshua.” Tyra thought on her words. “You are the coolest guy I know.”

Joshua’s smile widened.

“So, what do we do on a date?” she asked.

“Oh, well, depends on the locale. I could only get a nice view and food, so, I guess, we just talk and eat.”

“Anything specific?” she asked, opening the container.

“Nah, just whatever you want.”

Tyra nodded and took a nibble of processed meat. “Anything at all?”

“Anything.” Joshua grabbed his own container.

“How was your work as someone who hunts whales?” she asked.

“Ooh, going for a juicy one first, huh?”

“Far too tempting.”

“Well, it was a weird one. Back on Earth, they passed some laws against hunting ‘em due to environmental pressures or something, but my dad was one of the few to get a license for that sort of thing. So, naturally, he brought me along as free labor.” He munched on a wafer. “I wasn’t too hot on the idea. I mean, whales are smart, right?”

“I would not know, exactly,” she replied.

“Oh, right. Well, we’ve got dolphins and whales, and they’re really smart. Have their whole language and everything. Sea bound mammals.”

“Mammals such as yourself?”

“Yeah, they breathe air and everything.”

“Bizarre.” Tyra briefly wondered how a land based creature decided to slink back into the primordial soup from whence it came.

“They’re funky creatures for sure. A giant fish that can think. Well, not fish, but they’re pretty fishy. Just weird knowing you’re hunting something that’s sorta on your level mentally.” He held up a finger. “Should clarify, I am smarter than a whale.”

Tyra chuckled. “I believe the term you are looking for is ‘sentient.’ ”

“That sounds right. I know humans are the rulers of the planet, but there’s probably some line to be drawn when the thing we’re chopping up for food and other stuff is so smart.” He shrugged. “Sorry, I guess I got off course there.”

“It’s something to consider in your line of work.” Tyra wasn’t a far cry from doing much of the same, really.

“I’m guessing you wanted hear about the seas, though, right?”

“One of the more romantical aspects of it, yes.”

Joshua let out a wistful sigh, smiling. “Beautiful, really. I don’t know what it is, but I can just stare out at it for hours. When you’re on the water, it looks like it goes on forever. Kinda just makes you forget about all your problems.”

“You didn’t seem so calm during our own ocean vacation,” she replied.

“Well, you know, I guess it’s nice knowing you can go home at any time when you’re back on Earth.”

“Understandable. I think I’d like to see that ocean some day and its brilliant blues.”

“You’d see it in all sortsa colors, wouldn’t you?” he asked.

“I would, but it would be mostly blue. Unlike the ocean on the planet we visited.”

“Kind of a dumb question, but what’s that like? It’s gotta make everything look very pretty.”

“I imagine it’s mostly additional colors and adjusted brightness,” she replied. “It allows me to see finer details in certain things.” Tyra reached out, tracing a finger along his arm. “For example, I can see the way your pigmentation slightly differs on your skin here. A result of the way your body’s cells grow from infancy.”

“I got stripes all over me?” Joshua asked with a smile and a furrowed brow.

“Subtle ones, yes. I was slightly surprised that human media makes no mention of them. I was certain they would have figured into attractiveness.”

“Guess my next question is, do I have sexy stripes?” he asked.

“They’re pleasing. Particularly this cute stripe here, just under your eye.” She ran a thumb under his left eye. “Much darker than the rest.”

“At least I won’t have to be self-conscious about them now.” Joshua gently touched the stripe. “I can’t imagine what you must look like with your sight. Your colors were pretty before, but…”

“My coloration is actually quite one to one with how you perceive it. There are subtler markings on our chest, but otherwise, I am as red and golden as you see me.”

“That so? Happy I can enjoy all of you, then.”

“I am glad you enjoy me.”

Joshua tilted his head and pursed his lips. “You mind if I ask about your job, too? The good parts?”

“Which would you prefer? The research or the monitoring?” Tyra rubbed her mandibles together. “I suppose both had their flavors of research.”

“What do you mean?”

“The former was research into human anatomy and culture, the latter was monitoring of human activity and intercepting possible messages. Though, it was found that we would rarely receive any sort of traffic, so we were also given the task of miscellaneous spatial warping experiments in an atmosphere using antiquated ‘space punching’ techniques.”

“That sounds pretty interesting.”

“It is, though I suspect the reason for its research was to see if a ship could deliver a substantial explosive payload directly into a planet’s core.”

“Oh… Guess I’m glad that never got off the ground.”

“I agree.”

“What about the other one, then?” Joshua cleared his throat. “Without the anatomy part, I guess.”

“Not to worry, your anatomy will be the only one I explore now.”

Joshua furrowed his brow, then laughed, shaking his head.

“I suppose it was somewhat mundane. At least it would be from your point of view,” Tyra said. “I would receive various human artifacts and try to discern their meaning and significance. Before my station aboard that ship we had abandoned, that is.”

“So you’d get them and write down what they were and what they meant to humans?”

“Essentially. Every object, no matter how mundane, was looked over for potential meaning.”

“I imagine you got a lot of the same stuff. From what I saw, military-types always have the same cheesy knick knacks and pictures.”

“Very much so.” Tyra nibbled on some more food. “Pictures, personal affects, pornography. Sometimes packaged food or religious objects. The occasional odd miscellaneous trinket. My favorite, perhaps, were the videos.”

“I’d be surprised if those weren’t also porn.”

“Mostly not. Mostly.” She shook her head. “I was given a refurbished playback device to watch human media on.”

“Oh, that predictable human media, huh?”

“Very, but it was a nice change of pace from the other artifacts. When the storage device functioned properly.”

“D’you have any special things you were looking out for in those?”

“Anything they would divulge, really, though with how over exaggerated human media could be, it wasn’t as though much of it was particularly helpful.”

“Let me guess, not a single one was a documentary, right?” he asked. “Not sure any of them in the military have the brains for it.”

“There was one delightful documentary based around the animals from Africa. Though, I wasn’t allowed to requisition it to keep in my workspace, as my superiors found it had little to no strategical value.”

Joshua raised his drink. “Some day you’ll get to see them again. Hope I can show them to you myself.”

“Have you ever been there?”

“Oh, no. I’m way more west than that. But I’d love to go.”

“Even with all of its ferocious creatures?” she asked.

“Have you seen humans?”

“Perhaps they’re a good contender, but a human won’t lunge at you and tear out your innards.”

“Guess you got me there,” he replied. “Well, most of ‘em won’t, anyways. Some will, though.”

“Generally speaking, the mentally sound will not animalistically tear one apart.”

“This is probably the weirdest conversation I’ve had during a date,” Joshua replied with a chuckle.

“I imagine the weirdest date, as well.”

Joshua tilted his head and raised his brow. “I guess, technically, yeah. Probably the best one I’ve had so far, though.”

“I’m glad I’m performing admirably on this date.”

“Not a performance. Just nice to be with you.”

They lapsed into a silence as Tyra thought on what to say in response. A “thank you” would suffice, but somehow that seemed trite. There had to be something more fanciful and romantic than that. However, she felt woefully out of her element.

How was she supposed to indulge in romance? That was a nonexistent element in her life up until the point she realized, in a sad desperation, she wanted to spend more time with Joshua. Her head dipped as she sat there, noticing one of his hands bracing on the floor. Tyra reached out and placed her hand over his. They shared a gaze, and Joshua smiled.

That was more than enough, she hoped.

“Did you ever think you’d end up here, in space?” he asked, staring out through the slats.

“No. I had expected to live out my existence at home. I much prefer the concrete existence of a planet in comparison to the worries of space.”

“Pretty cool, though, right?”

“As of right now?” Tyra lay her head on his shoulder. “Yes, it is.”

They continued on, eating and idly chatting as they stared out into the vastness of space. Occasionally, Tyra’s thoughts would dip into the reality of their situation. The clock was ticking even now. They would have to make their choice eventually on where to go and what to do. It just seemed so impossible. Tyra pressed a little harder into Joshua’s side, letting his soft comfort stymie her fears.

Just a little longer.