Radiance: Part One

L10: Out

Fenne the 3rd/ Sometime in October/ 5694 CE 1506 hrs

In a blink it had already been four weeks.

Four weeks of a monitored diet, exercise and therapy regimen.

Four weeks of living in an actual, honest-to-goodness alien palace, under careful watch of a handsome alien prince. And four weeks of not seeing a single other human being. Not even Dimetra had tried to stop by, strangely enough.

To further Lyda's dismay, they didn't get to see Vyrik as often as they had hoped, but it wasn't all that surprising. They'd been focused on their own healing, as promised, and life was punctuated by the occasional make out-session or cuddle, once every two or three days. They saw him every day, being so close by to his rooms, but it was more so just in passing than it was the close, budding relationship that they secretly hoped for. Some days all they got was a squeeze to their shoulder and a sorry smile.

Vyrik sat across from them in Lyda's small private kitchen, picking over their mostly-eaten lunches. It wasn't easy to get so much food down, but it was certainly getting easier. Vyrik looked exhausted as they had ever seen him.

"My schedule isn't usually this full." Vyrik shrugged, "It's just everything with The Grey, making sure things stay tip-top in the human colony, and dealing with my father's strange moods."

"Are the other leader's not involved?" Lyda cocked their head. They were chomping at the bit for any new information.

Vyrik reached across the counter and grabbed their hand in his absentmindedly, "The human leaders have been helping every step of the way. They've joined the parliament, and will be joining the planetary council at the end of this week. But, Lyda, there's something important we need to talk about. You've been out of commission for a month now. I know you had spoken against being captain, but you never relinquished your duties as a leader. I've been filling in, in your stead. I've discussed it with Marx and Sin Mae and they all agree that you're more fit than you've been since you've come here. As long as you're willing, of course. There are other things we can do. I've never seen you so healthy." He punctuated his statement with a rich, true smile that left Lyda warm under their collar.

Lyda beamed, squeezing the hand that held theirs, "I never wanted to cease being a leader- I've been following the doctor's orders this whole time. You know that much. I'm ready to jump back in right now, if you need me to. I've been anxious to get back at it since the first week."

Vyrik ran his free hand over his face, "I know, and I appreciate how patient you've been. We can start you back in, tomorrow, but that's not the route of what I've been trying to say. We've had people at the palace gates, for days, demanding to see you. I know I should have told you, you'd probably have liked visitors-"

Lyda cut him off, smile faltering, "Wait so I've been sitting alone this whole time on purpose? Why didn't anyone tell me anything? On the ship, you all said you'd stop hiding things from me- why-" Vyrik held up his hand to halt them and they scowled. It wasn't like they weren't used to having someone in charge of them, but power dynamics be damned, it wasn't what they'd expected of him.

"I wasn't hiding anything from you, I haven't spoken to anyone. The palace has been under a sort of lock down until we knew that there were no Grey in our midst and you couldn't be with the other humans because your accelerated nanos would have interfered with theirs." He squeezed thier hand again, "Their upgrades are finally finished, so you're free to see whomever you want, now. I'll open up all of the communication barriers right now," He pulled his hand away from theirs for a brief moment, his eyes focusing on something Lyda couldn't see, "but please, let me finish what I've been trying to say." His face was always just shy of cold- eyes just a little too stern, mouth set in a look of perpetual annoyance more often than not. Lyda huffed but nodded. It certainly helped, that even when he looked cold, he was still a picture of angular beauty- it was especially nice to know that the iciness didn't quite reach his eyes when he looked at them.