The Foreigner & The Pessimist (malexmale)

2. Zuuro

We're at a small table in the corner next to the windows, which have begun frosting over as small flakes of snow spit from the sky above. I'm told this kind of weather was once unusual here so early in the season, but in the last few decades it's become almost the norm. Gav'yx is an ice planet though, so while the Uniterrians seem to grow angry and bitter as the temperatures fall, I find my own spirits raised. I like it when it snows. I thrive in a cold environment. It reminds me of home. Or maybe my happy mood has nothing to do with the weather, and everything to do with my newfound companions...or one companion in particular.

I've pushed myself up against the window to give Lane as much space as I can, but the cafeteria is cramped, so there is still only a breaths distance between us as he sits crossed legged in his chair beside me, twisting the long noodles in his dish around his fork. He's laughing at something Fallon said, and can't help but feel like it's the most wonderful sound I've ever heard.

My skin hums with the energy of having him so close. I feel alive when I'm near him. More alive than I've ever felt before. Like I may just start smiling like a madman and never stop again. Of course, if I were to tell anyone this, including him, they'd think I was insane. I mean, we've only just met, but then that's not really the truth of it. I've known his face forever, I've just never spoken to him until today.

Every culture and species throughout the galaxies have their name for it; the connection you share with the person you're meant to love. Your soulmate. The humans say we're two halves of the same person; split in two before our birth and cast into separate bodies to live dull love lives until we finally meet again. The Okanali live their lives in monochrome black and white until they find their other half, and then their world explodes with the vibrancy of color. The Marcutions don't even hatch until they find their mate, not even if that means waiting a thousand years for them. We all have these stories, but unlike the others, we Gav'yxians keep ours secret.

When we're born on Gav'yx, with our first breath comes an image that shapes the rest of our lives. It's the face of our soulmate, at the exact moment we're going to meet them. We don't hear their voice. We don't know their name. We just know we have to be in that place at that exact time to find them.

The first Gav'yxians were only mated to other Gav'yxians due to their lack of experience with the other races. But, as our ancestors started branching out to other planets and galaxies, they found their soulmates did as well. It's rare, and we don't know how to explain it, but it does happen, and when it does, our whole life becomes consumed with figuring out how we're going to get ourselves to that other being.

It's torturous waiting for it to happen, because if we're connected to someone from another planet, then they don't always know their supposed to be looking for us. Humans, for example. They only know that relationships with anyone else never seem to work out, and that some part of them seems to be missing until we meet. Luckily for us, our connection to our soulmate is always there, like an invisible energy beacon that only grows stronger the closer we get to one another. That's how we find them.

I've dreamt about meeting Lane more times than I can recall, wondering what I'd say to him, who he was, and what he was doing at every moment of every day. I didn't know him yet, but I was already in love with him. Or I thought I was. I was more in love with the idea of him, I guess. I saw my parents and the others on Gav'yx who'd already found their soulmates, and the love that they shared between them was something I couldn't wait to have for my own.

I remember sitting in my room drawing pictures of him, trying to make sure that I wouldn't forget one little detail of our meeting. Not that I could, of course. Out connection to our other half is the strongest bond we have, and that single memory we carry throughout our lives is our only clue to finding them. We never forget that.