Though she floated, his presence offered a comforting stability as their bubble joined the cosmic procession on its pre-set tour. As she took deep breaths, her initial fear dissolved into awe. The sensation of gently bobbing in the bubble, touching the frame for extra support, yet still pressed against Erzo, was oddly reassuring.
“Why aren’t you floating like me?”
Erzo glanced down at his feet, clad in magnetic shoes. “They keep me grounded. We should complete your shoe set from the store.”
Polly looked down at her sneakers, half expecting a rebuke about her incomplete footwear. Surprisingly, Erzo only chuckled. “You never cease to entertain me.”
“That’s a relief,” Polly quipped, relieved by his light-hearted response. “Better than being a nuisance.”
“Infinitely,” he agreed, his voice warm. “If you’re content with your shoes, we’ll leave them as is.”
Her tension eased at his words, a small but significant gesture of understanding.
"Thank you," she said softly, a grateful smile on her lips.
They floated along the bubble’s pre-set path together. Erzo pointed out various cosmic sights—the twinkling stars and distant spaceships maneuvering around the station. The station itself was a haphazard assembly of modules, resembling a child’s imaginative reconstruction of broken toys.
“That over there is the warp tunnel.” Erzo’s voice reverberated in the little bubble, feeling like it stroked her as he spoke.
Polly could make out the glimmering lights he had mentioned earlier. The ballet of ships converging on and departing from the tunnel was mesmerizing. “They seem on a collision course.”
“It happens occasionally,” Erzo acknowledged. “Mostly due to careless piloting. Larger ships require more power for movement.”
“And more to stop,” Polly added.
“Exactly,” Erzo confirmed, his voice carrying a note of respect for the vast and intricate dance of interstellar travel.
Their journey through the stars continued, with Polly completely entranced. The tour unfurled before them, the space station’s architecture a blend of organic curves and metallic rigidity. The mismatched windows and varying hues of metal, coated in a layer of gray space dust, created a surreal, almost dreamlike vista.
“Why does everything have this dusty veneer?” Polly asked, her curiosity piqued by the alien landscape.
“That’s space dust,” Erzo explained. “It’s a blend of debris from moons, comets, asteroids—remnants of the universe’s constant evolution.”
Polly nodded, absorbing this new knowledge. “Like interstellar sand.”
There was a subtle shift between them, a comfortable realignment of their bodies in the bubble’s confined space. His hand rested gently on her hip, anchoring her in the weightlessness, while the steady presence of his tail under her arms comforted Polly.
They continued to drift amidst the stars, encased in their tiny transparent world. Erzo’s warmth was a soothing contrast to the cool artificial air of the space station. With every subtle increase in his grip, Polly felt herself instinctively leaning towards him, irresistibly drawn to the reassuring solidity he brought.
Yes. The stable and solidity.
Not any kind of attraction at all.
Nope. Not her.
A prerecorded narration detailed the sights outside their bubble, but Polly hardly registered the words.
Who would have thought the most romantic date of her life would be in outer space, surrounded by stars? She was captivated by the sprawling cosmic panorama and by the closeness of the imposing yet gentle alien who embraced her so securely.
The irony that this idyllic moment was a one-sided affair didn’t escape her. But heck, it didn’t make the moment any less magical. Every second in Erzo’s arms, staring into the great cosmic beyond, felt like a stolen treasure—thrilling and heart-fluttering, like sneaking the last piece of chocolate cake at midnight. It was bittersweet, sure, but Polly was determined to savor the heck out of it because when else would she get to cuddle with a charming, tail-wielding alien in a bubble floating through space?
The answer was as clear as the starlit sky outside their bubble: Never. This was a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic escapade, a fleeting brush with the extraordinary that would never happen again. But as Polly nestled closer to Erzo, a troubling thought tugged at the edges of her mind. What if she was making a colossal mistake? Could she really keep her emotions at bay, compartmentalize her feelings, and walk away unscathed at the end of it all?
The idea of playing along for the next thirty days, pretending none of this mattered, suddenly felt like a high-stakes game. With each passing moment, the risk of letting her heart fall for him—for this green, enigmatic alien—grew more real.
20
The electrifying closeness with Polly still tingled on his skin as they left the bubble tour. Zero gravity had been a cruel tease, every touch igniting a fire within him that Erzo hadn’t expected. Her laughter and warmth enveloped him, making it hard to know whether her brushes against him were accidental or an invitation. Despite his best efforts, Erzo found it increasingly difficult to keep himself in check.
