“Hopefully, getting some answers might build your confidence and help with the doubts.” Qylar placed a gentle kiss on Kenji’s forehead, and an idea popped into his head. “Do you mean inexperienced when you call yourself unsophisticated—or the fact you haven’t seen much of the world yet?”
“Both, really,” Kenji said.
Qylar grasped one of Kenji’s hand in his. “Come with me.”
He strode toward the pilot’s deck, a smile widening on his face. Once they arrived, he pointed to one of the seats linked to a control console. “Sit.”
Kenji sat down, frowning. “What are we doing?”
“Just give me a second,” Qylar said, starting the engines. The ship hummed briefly before the movement was buffered by the magnetic field. “I want to show you something.”
“Are we going somewhere?”
“I promise we’ll be back in as little as a half-hour unless you want to stay longer.” Qylar entered coordinates into the system before punching the throttle. The ship rose toward the surface of the ocean. Before they broke through, he scanned the vicinity for any craft and determined a route that bypassed anything that might see them.
Within a couple of minutes, they were orbiting Earth, just outside the ring of space debris. Qylar opened the metal hull, exposing the crystalline alloy underneath. The compacted crystal was cut smooth like glass and just as clear, but a million times stronger. To Kenji, it probably looked like a simple window, but that was immaterial.
What was outside the window was what mattered.
He turned to eye Kenji. “There are few people who can say they’ve seen the entire world. Now you can consider yourself one of them.”
Kenji’s jaw dropped, his eyes wide. He slowly rose from the seat and crossed the pilot’s deck to stand in front of the window. “It’s… beautiful.”
Qylar smiled at the awe in Kenji’s voice. He ambled closer and stood a couple of inches behind Kenji. “Itisa gorgeous planet.”
Kenji scoffed humorously. “I… I can’t believe I’m looking at Earthfrom space.”
“Believe it,” Qylar murmured. “There’s a great big universe out there I can show you, too.”
Kenji turned and stared up at him. “Slow down… I think we both have to earn some trust before you start offering me an entire universe.”
“Noted.”
Kenji turned back to stare down at Earth. “The oceans look so incredibly blue. Too bad they’re not like that for real.”
“Seriously,” Qylar said. “Humans have nearly destroyed them with pollution. You should see the waters on Nefyria. They’re unspoiled.”
Kenji looked over his shoulder, lifting a brow.
“That wasn’t an offer to take you, though I would if you asked.”
Kenji turned back to Earth and chuckled.
“I’ve never seen anyone swim as fast as you. I wonder how fast you’d be there.”
“An alien creature five times my size aggressively swam my way. You’re damned right I got the fuck out of there as fast as I could.”
Qylar snickered, but his smile soon faded. “Itrulyam sorry. It was a reaction born in fear for those I care about. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me.”
“I might be able to,” Kenji said, spinning to face Qylar. “But you need to give me a minute to breathe. It’s been a really big day. I was chased by an alien creature I thought was going to kill me, who also happens to be the guy who fucked me senseless a couple of months ago. I was jailed, interrogated, and then released before being taken into outer space.” He turned back around and eyed the planet again.
Qylar watched his reflection in the smooth crystal, not finding anger, but a smile. He couldn’t stop one of his own at the joy in Kenji’s face.
“From the things on your shelves, it looks like you’ve visited a lot of places down there,” Kenji said, his voice reverent.
“I have.”
“One day, I will, too.”
