The Book of Gemma VOL. 2

16: NOTHING HAPPENED

It had been a couple months since that night on Darus... and you guessed it. I stayed in my house. I've only talked to Albi on video since word spread through Darus, Akira and him being too busy with work. I knew that Albi used it as an excuse to not come, and wouldn't dare come to my house when Aries told him everything that had happened since my arrival.

Albi was never one to pry, he was just like Aries, following my orders and never making me do anything I didn't want. What I didn't want was for my friends and family to see me in these phases of not wanting to be overwhelmed. I promised that I would come to visit when I was feeling more myself, they didn't deserve a fake smile. Edna visited every week, we would laugh and chat for hours every time. I wasn't in my usual mopey depressed phase where I locked myself in my room. I just wanted to stay in my house where no questions or interactions with people outside my circle could occur. Where I wouldn't run into Deecon, where I wouldn't see Scorpz face or get asked the same five questions by every individual that I came across. The teams that Deecon and Aries had made over the years operated without me, they didn't me.

I was on a damn vacation and loved it. No fear of what to do next, no stress of carrying myself a certain way with the humans, no lazy feeling if I kicked my feet up. I spent time in my garden, trying to manipulate the seeds matter and create new flowers, new creations. I even dabbled in painting, drawing, writing, everything I wasn't given time to practice. Aries leaves in the morning and comes to tell me a new joke every afternoon. He has become my best friend on this planet. Relieving any pressure on my shoulders and giving me the walk in the park feeling that Deecon used to give. We sang in the kitchen, we raced in the pool, we drank in the hot tub and he never mentioned anything to do with how things are at the compound.

One time I heard Deecon yelling to him on a call about a Starzithian popping up on their radar, Vyx's soldiers spying on us. He left for the night and returned with Laris muffins and coffee in the morning, as if nothing happened. I acted the same, nothing happened.

One day I saw Aries outside the dome at night as I looked out my window. He was ripping flowers out of the ground in a hurry. Deecon planted them without my knowledge, trying to write me a letter with the flowers he spread across the field. I sipped off the jug in my hand and walked away from the window.

Nothing happened, I repeated to myself.

Another time I saw a letter taped to the back of Aries suit, he took it from my hand and crumpled it up, setting it ablaze in his palm. We looked at each other,

'Nothing happened.'

We whispered into each other's minds in sync.

Deecon came to the edge of the dome, his palms facing upwards and using his glow to spell out letter by letter of the words he wished to say to me. Aries ran out to him and tackled him to the ground. I don't know what happened after that because..

Nothing happened.

One night we had gotten a couple shots of his homemade brew and danced in the kitchen, he twirled me around as I laughed at my surroundings becoming a blur.

"Aries, this concoction is close to replacing my dormouse!"

He puts his hand over his heart, "You don't mean that your grace." He is humbled. I swat his hand, "I mean it! Haha!" His hand resting on my lower back sent heat to my cheeks. He flashes his canines as he stares into my eyes, slowly moving in until our noses touch. "Gemini.. Why does your laughter make me race home to hear it?"

I bat my eyes, I couldn't tell if I was this drunk or if Aries was..? No, he wouldn't make a pass at me when he has only shown me friendship... I start to get a pit in my stomach, my body torn at this affection. One part of me sent my skin crawling of someone touching me other than Deecon. Another tells me that these two pieces have fit in every life Aries and I spent together.