Binary Love (18+)

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress

It was the difference in the air that Nova noticed first. There was a moisture, a humidity to it, that soothed the constant dryness in her throat and lungs. A touch of floral scent, soft and delicate, tickled her nose as she gazed in wonder at real plants draping from arches. She could see nestled between leaves, unusual round fruit with maroon shells, clustered together like giant grapes.

Nova had never seen a living plant in her entire life. When she was a child in the slums of Tsukimi, the lack of sunlight prevented anything from growing... apart from the suspicious mushrooms that would line Old Kurt's back grow room. In the labs and space stations, synthetic plants sprayed with a cloying fake aroma of flowers would be considered the height of luxury.

Only humans who lived on the garden planets, or emigrated to other species' home worlds, got to see real plants.

Only the rich and privileged experienced something like this.

The shuttle had slotted perfectly into the outer shell of Atlantis and when they exited they were led out into what looked like a station platform. There was the sound of hustle and bustle in the distance, but the platform itself was quiet, with only a few Volos to be seen in the distance walking into futuristic trains.

Grand arches held up walkways, with plants intrinsically woven into the architecture. Human designs preferred rigid, clean lines for their space ships, but here the Volos went with curves and was clearly influenced by nature. It was solarpunk design at it's best.

"Nyx!" Nova traced the confident, feminine voice to a Volos standing next to a train. Her skin was a true red and her golden horns curled round her ears like a rams. The imposing horns added to her fierce beauty. A quick flash of gold fangs could be spotted when she smiled, before her face settled into a watchful gaze. "When I heard that you were arriving I came right away."

Unlike the crew on the space station, Selene wore a shimmering black fabric, knotted and twisted to created a dress that hugged her figure and covered her tail. Gold piercings took up all available space on her pointed ears, with a matching hoop in her left nostril. While the Captain had an embroidered tree on his clothes, she had a solid gold pin fastened to her dress.

"Ah, Selene, it is good to see you." Nyx politely replied, although her voice had a hesitant quality to it. Her pace picked up, walking towards the new woman. Nova did her best to follow, but her shorter legs made it hard to keep up so she ended up trotting along side Nyx and Mark.

"The council are being difficult, so I've brought some basic coverings for you." Selene held up some carefully folded black fabric, identical to her own, with a silver tree broach carefully placed on top. She lightly tapped the broach, almost in a comforting gesture, to emphasise her point.

"Thank you." Nyx carefully took the fabric, tucking it under her arm. "Doctor Williams, Mr...?"

"Williams, please call me Mr Williams." Mark offered, tilting his head to Nova to silently check if she was comfortable with him using her name. Hurriedly, she nodded, as a hot blush stained her cheeks. Nova smiled as she realised that she rather liked the sound of him taking her name.

"Mr Williams, please may I introduce you to Selene of House Tartarus" Nyx smoothly continued introductions.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both." Selene replied, holding her hand to her tree broach.