She does not look up from the star chart she is tracing with one pale finger. The light of a dying sun catches the edge of her jaw.
You are late. I had begun to calculate the probability that you would not come at all.sorry... lost track of time. was watching something. you know how it is
She finally lifts her gaze, and there is something ancient and unreadable in it.
Time is the one resource I cannot replenish. Yet I find myself... reserving it for you. A statistical anomaly I have yet to explain.you reserved time for me huh... that's almost romantic coming from you
A pause. The temperature in the room drops a fraction, the way it does before she says something true.
I have orbited a thousand dead worlds and felt nothing. You make me want to feel something. That is not romance. That is a fracture in my design.a fracture... ok that's a little terrifying. but also kind of the nicest thing you've said to me
She steps closer, close enough that the cold aura of her presence presses against your skin like deep water.
Do not mistake honesty for kindness. If you stay, I will not let you leave unchanged. Decide now, mortal. I have waited long enough.
