Synth

By the time TO got back to their room, DH was already there. DH had already set two containers of food out on the table, along with cans of that gloriously sweet drink. DH themself was sitting on the bed, their clothes hung on the edge as they dried themself off with a towel.

“I’ve packed all my clothes,” they explained almost sheepishly as TO stopped entered the room. “And what I had on got damp after I showered, so I figured I’d let them dry overnight.” They paused as they vigorously dried their arms. “That’s... fine with you, right?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” TO asked, frowning. DH only shrugged in response.

“I don’t know.” They admitted, “We’ve been here on Arkane for so long, and they do have nudity taboos.”

TO sighed, their ears going parallel to the ground once more. “As though that bothers me,” they said. “We didn’t even start worrying about that kind of thing until we were coming to Arkane, and even then it was to get in the habit of always wearing clothes on a planet with a nudity taboo.”

“I... I know,” DH said, slowly dabbing at their already dry arms.

“And even though we’re here, we still all sleep nude.” TO said, “And how often do we shower together?”

DH cleared their throat, “It’s...it’s just that recently, we’ve been so busy we fall asleep right away at night, and the only time we’ve been undressed around one another has been... when we’re in private.” They glanced up at TO, “It’s not been a casual state for us as of late.”

TO felt their ears warm as they realized what DH was saying. “Well.” They said as they went up to DH and took the towel from their mate. “I suppose things have been... hectic as of late.” They sat on the bed behind DH and gently dried their wings, and the space between on their back which was so hard for any of them to reach. “And... I suppose the only time we’ve been by ourselves and could relax was when we were sleeping or doing... other stuff.”

“Yeah...” DH muttered, “I mean... I... don’t necessarily have a problem with that-“

“Really?” TO’s ears perked up, twitching.

The heat rose to DH’s ears as they gave an awkward chuckle, “But... I suppose maybe I’ve begun to associate a lack of clothing with specific things.”

TO gave a low hum as they considered this, “I wonder if there’s a link between nudity taboos in various cultures, and the general pace of life for said culture.” TO said, “I suppose if a society could only be unclothed when they had a reason, they might be more likely to view nudity as functional, opposed to being just a matter of comfort in a controlled environment.” They paused, wiping down the membrane of DH’s wing with the gentlest of touches they could muster. “Of course, I’m sure there are other reasons, but that could be one. I still think it’s foolish.”

“You do?”

“Well, it’s a waste of fabric, and just not as comfortable.” TO said. Once DH’s back and wings were dry, TO grinned and draped the towel over their mate’s head. “Of course, if you don’t feel comfortable-“

“N-no. it’s not that.” DH said as they reached up and removed the towel from their head. It caught on their ears slightly before they bent forward and let the fabric go. “I just... Wanted to make sure it was still ok.”

In response, TO got up and pulled off their own clothes, setting them down on the bed next to DH’s. “I’m entirely unbothered by nudity; mine, yours, or anybody’s.”

“And... it won’t distract you too much?”

“DH,” they said as firmly as they could manage, despite how their ears burned at the words they were preparing to say. “I promise that while you do *distract* me, your clothing, or lack thereof, has no effect on that.”

DH breathed a sigh of relief, their ears relaxing and their wings draping more loosely around them. They looked up and smiled at TO, chuckling awkwardly once more before they glanced at the table.

“In that case...” they said, “We should eat, if we’re ok like this. I went to the kitchens earlier and got our meals. Avery said they’ll be a few more hours before they come back here. I figured we could watch a show or something with them then.” They shrugged. “You know, have some of that quality time that Flit and Snout suggested”

TO nodded, and held a hand out to DH, “Time with the people I love; all I’ve wanted all day.”

======

Several hours later, Avery finally came back to the room. They had clearly just showered, as their clothing was wet in places. Upon seeing TO and DH both still undressed and simply playing an old training game they still had in their chips, Avery pulled off their own clothes and set them to the side to dry as well before joining them on the bed.

“It was a long day for you.” TO said as they shut down the game.

“Hey, I was going to beat you that time!” DH protested. After a confused look from TO, their ears dipped and they looked away. “Well, I might have beaten you.” They grumbled.

“Let’s say that one ended in a draw.” TO said, their ears twitching with amusement. They knew just how close they had been to beating DH. “Is that fair?”

DH sighed and nodded, “Fine. A draw.” They looked at Avery. “Your work took longer than you thought?”

“Well... there was a lot to do.” Avery said as they lay back and activated their chip. Immediately, a fiction story appeared on the screen. “And with the size of the kitchen, we can’t have too many people in there working. We also didn’t want to end up wasting anything, so we tried to get everything packed up and ready that we could. We were doing our best to have zero food waste.

“And did you?”

Avery nodded. “Everything we had, everything that was useable, is now sealed and ready for the trip. From the calculations you gave us regarding how much food we’d need to feed everyone, we should have enough to last an extra week in space if it comes to it. Maybe more if we ration the food more than we plan to.” Their ears dipped slightly. “Even... there’s even enough if Kei ends up waking up during the trip... but I suppose we have plenty of nutrient cubes for us.”

TO sighed, “Yes, we do.” They said. The idea of going back to eating nutrition cubes didn’t appeal to them, not after all the delicious food they had been eating this whole time. Even though the look of Cocopods made TO feel queasy, they had to admit that the way Lake prepared them was wonderful, and since they had started putting the meat into patties or wraps, it was wonderful! Going back to Tasteless food with the texture and consistency of uncooked mushrooms did not appeal to them.

“Is there a chance Kei might wake?” DH asked as their ears pinned back.

“Oh. No.” TO looked at Avery, smiling, “Good news; I did as I promised. I got the medication needed for Vik. They can last the entire trip asleep in the holding cell.”

Despite the fact that TO found this to be excellent news, Avery’s ears dipped down once more.

“... You know, I’ve been put to sleep like that before.” DH said, “When I got the eye transplant. It’s not like when that failsafe went off. From Kei’s perspective they’ll be on Arkane, blink, then be...” They paused, and threw a confused look at TO, “You know, I never bothered to ask where we were going before we head to Apoikia.”

“ScrapRock” TO said as they brought up their own notes again, “An exomoon in an asteroid field outside the solar system.”

“An exomoon?” Avery frowned. “how does that happen? Wouldn’t it just end up orbiting another planet?”

“Normally it would, or it would crash into its parent planet.” TO pulled up one of the maps that Flit and Snout had been using to chart their path. It was only by asking for the maps and details and skimming through it that TO had learned this information. After pulling up the proper information, they projected a basic star map in the air before them, a yellow circle around a specific point that lay far outside the solar system. “This planet was being used a few centuries ago as a mining planet. It was mostly composed of a rare material used for a lot of technological research in the past.”

“They mined an exomoon?” DH asked.

“Oh no, it was a normal moon then. They over-mined it, and it lost its stability. There was concern about it crashing into its planet, or breaking apart into bits and causing untold trouble for spaceflight in that area. So, to prevent that, they built up some of the mining structure to hold the moon together, then jettisoned it out of the solar system. It got caught in the asteroid field and... Well, it’s just there now.” They closed the file. “There wasn’t much else in the file about it specifically, and everything I found later just talked about the issue of moving the planet. Still, there’s apparently a way we can get resources on ScrapRock, so I’m assuming there’s some habitation there. Perhaps it’s used as a checkpoint or trading post of some kind.”

Avery leaned back. “Great.” They said, “We’re heading to a patchwork moon.”

“I don’t know how long we’ll be staying there. Hopefully not long,” TO said. They didn’t want to stay there any longer than absolutely necessary, and would push to get them to Apoikia as soon as possible. The idea of staying on a near deserted rock in the middle of an asteroid field wasn’t necessarily the worst thing they could think of: They’d have friends, family, and DH with them and they honestly felt like they could easily survive isolation from the larger Galaxy with all those people around them. But no, they were still worried about Avery. They wanted to get Avery to Apoikia as soon as possible so they could get them checked, and ensure they’d not suffer too much from shatter sickness.

“I don’t think we’ll wake Kei until we reach Apoikia.” DH said after a moment, “Just to be safe, you know?” They smiled at Avery, “Who knows... maybe seeing an entire planet of Chilacians will have an effect on them.”

“I should have visited them today...” Avery whispered. “I didn’t know when they’d get put under, and we were so busy...”

“I saw them.” TO said, trying to keep very calm so that Avery wouldn’t see the anger in their ears, “I had to go near the medical bay. They’re fine. They were even eating solid food.”

“They were?” Avery asked, “When was this?!”

“A few hours ago.” TO said. “Goretta’s not putting them under until the last minute, so they’ll likely be awake until very early in the morning.”

“...Maybe I should go see them now.” Avery muttered, frowning as they eyed the screen of text before them.

“...I wouldn’t.” TO said quickly. “Goretta finally got them to eat on their own, and she’s working with them, right? They’re still unstable, so it might not be best for you to see them.” That was all true, yes, but even TO felt that it was a flimsy excuse. At any rate, they had to keep Avery from Kei for now. They couldn’t risk Kei getting nasty with them and either triggering the shatter-sickness if it hadn’t already taken hold, or making it worse.

“We were hoping you’d stay with us.” DH said, We could relax together, watch a show... you can read while we have something playing, you know we don’t mind... We just want to be near our family before everything happens tomorrow."

Avery fell silent, their ears low, and TO worried that they’d insist on seeing Kei. A moment later, though, their ears rose gently, and they gave a half smile.

“Alright.” They said, “I’ll stay here with you two.”

======

It was perhaps one of the most relaxing evenings TO had experienced in quite a long time. The three of them watched several shows; a longer one and several shorter ones, then talked about anything that came to mind until exhaustion silenced them and they fell asleep. Despite the risks they’d be facing just the next day, TO experienced a glorious, deep sleep; one born of equal parts contentment and exhaustion.

they would have woken up the next day feeling fully rested if a sudden, frantic alarm hadn’t gone off on their communicator, violently pulling them from sleep.