#rhenilo

“That’s too bad cause I ordered Greek for you,” Rheni said pointing to the food on the kitchen counter. “Guess you can have it later? Or for lunch?” “Oh… Yeah, thanks Rheni,” Camilo said. He trudged into the kitchen and looked into the bag. “My favourite. I’ll save it.” Rheni looked away from his laptop to look at Camilo and frowned. “What’s up, babe? You don’t look too good.” “Rheni, it’s alright…” Camilo went over to him and put a hand on his head. “What are you up to.” “Work,” Rheni said as Pickle ran over and hhoppedup on the couch beside him. “Editing game code.” “Sounds fun,” Camilo said, although sarcastically. “Actually, it’s pretty fun,” Rheni said. “It’s like I get to see what the game looks like but in written form sort of.” “Uh huh…” Camilo sat down beside him and pulled his dog into his lap. He started petting her and she wagged her tail, nuzzling up against his neck. “…I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant again.” Rheni let go of his mouse and turned to Camilo. “You’re not serious.” “I am,” Camilo said. “I haven’t been feeling well, and I bought a pregnancy test after work and it was positive…” He dropped his head into his hands. “Oh god, Rheni, I don’t want to go through that again…” “Have you seen Syd about it yet?” Rheni said wrapping an arm around his partner. “They’d help.” “I told you, Syd’s in Europe,” Camilo said. “They left a couple days ago.” “Right… Well I’m sure there’s a replacement.” “Rheni, I don’t like seeing all different doctors…” “Well, what other options are there?” “We could just wait til it happens.” “You need to be checked out. It we find out early on, it might be possible to change the result.” “Change the result?” Camilo asked. “You were there. Syd said we’re not genetically compatible as parents. We can’t have kids. It’s just going to end like before. We’ll just be prepared this time.” “But what if this time is different?” Rheni asked. “What if it survives?” “Rheni, it can’t,” Camilo said. “And even if it could…” He frowned. “I don’t even want to think about that.” Rheni frowned. “Think about what? Us having a child?” “Well, yeah.” Camilo rubbed his stomach. “We can’t have kids, you and me. It’s too much.” “…Is it?” Rheni asked. Camilo frowned. “We can’t have kids. We’re both studying and working. You can’t even leave the apartment. I don’t want to be pregnant ever. Do you even know how much dysphoria I was dealing with during that miscarriage?” “Well… Okay, I get that you don’t want to be pregnant,” Rheni said. “But maybe after this, however it turns out, maybe we can adopt or something?” “Rheni, I don’t even know if we can think about that kind of thing right now,” Camilo said. “Not as we are. We already have a goal. That’s getting you into society. Maybe even getting your body back. The EID is working hard alongside our allies to look for the people that did this to you. We should be thinking about that, not children.” “…I just don’t see why we can’t think about both,” Rheni said returning to his programming. “But that’s fine… I guess I’m just getting ahead of myself.” Camilo sighed and kissed Rheni’s cheek. “…I’m not outright saying no to kids. But…If we looked at it like we were a typical couple…like two honeymooners or something…I still feel like we’re not in a stable place to raise a child. I know I’m not. I’m young and I feel really overworked these days between school and work. And if I pursue my PhD, that feeling probably won’t go away for a very long time. And you, you also have work and classes. We just don’t have that kind of time.” “Well, I… I don’t really have that much work,” Rheni said. “The programming classes could end whenever I want. I’m not bound to a curriculum… And the work is really flexible. I’ve just been doing a lot of it, because I don’t really have anything else to do. And it helped us get this apartment.” “I hear you but if I may be selfish, I can’t and don’t want to have a kid right now,” Camilo said. “As I said, it’s too much.” “Okay. I understand,” Rheni said. “Either way, I want you to see a doctor at the EID. Do you know who’s replaced Syd?” Camilo shook his head. “No, but I’ve heard Fay talk about him. He thinks the guy’s crazy.” “Crazy in a personal way or crazy in being a doctor?” Rheni asked. “What?” “Well, like you can be crazy on your own time as long as it isn’t hurting anyone, but like if he has crazy medical practice, then I don’t want him anywhere near you.” “Oh… I think it was personal crazy…” Camilo said. “Fay was going on about ghost hunting or something.” “Ooh, a ghost hunting doctor!” Rheni started wiggling in his seat. “Can he make a house call? I want to meet him!” “You’ll meet him at your next physical,” Camilo said. “I should go on my own.” Rheni pouted. “I want to meet a ghost hunter… And my next physical isn’t for another month. Syd could be back by then.” “I don’t know what to tell you,” Camilo said. “I’m gonna go by myself.” “Okay, fine…” Rheni sighed. “Maybe if I fake an injury, they’ll have to visit.” “You can’t get injured,” Camilo said. “I can too!” Rheni said. “I can get burned or evaporated or my nucleus could get separated from my body.” “Those all have simple solutions though,” Camilo said. “Add water and put your nucleus back in.” “Well… my nucleus could get damaged,” Rheni said. “Do you know what to do if that happens?” “Um, no…” “Well me neither so we’d have to call a doctor,” Rheni said. “You’re not going to fake an injury,” Camilo said. “Just wait until your physical.” “Can’t you at least tell him I want to meet him?” Rheni asked stroking the back of Camilo’s neck. “I want to know if the bathroom ghost is real.” “There’s no ghost in the bathroom!” Camilo said. “The vent is under the toilet paper. That’s why it floats.” “There’s a presence. I can feel it.” “What do you even do in the bathroom, anyway?” “Practice faces.” “You’re so immature.” “Hey I’m getting a lot better at colours,” Rheni said holding out a hand and giving it a slightly skin like peachy colour. “If I can get the shape just right, I might pass.” “As human?” Camilo asked. “Yeah. Like if I can get the shapes and colours right… Hair is the hardest. It’s so wiry… I can’t get the texture right.” “Babe… I’m gonna go lie down,” Camilo said setting Pickle down on the floor. “Not trying to ignore you… I’m just not feeling well.” “Aw, do you want me to come give you snuggles?” “Naw, you finish your work. I might be up later.” “Okay. Rest up. Take Pickle with you at least for snuggles.” Camilo gave him a kiss on the cheek then went to bed, their peppy pup bounding after him to give all the snuggles she could.

Rheni: We’re gonna get through this, you know?

“We get it,” Camilo said. “You don’t have to worry about us.” Sydryn nodded. “Well, I have confirmed that what occurred was certainly a miscarriage. The substance I collected at the time did show to have a combination of human tissue and arrhenius plasm. A small nucleus, like Rheni's, was also found.” “So…it really was…our baby…” Rheni said. “Mmmnot exactly,” Sydryn continued. “You see, typically, the cause of a miscarriage is difficult to determine but in this case it is almost certainly due to your incompatibility as different species. DNA analysis showed a failure to combine your genetics properly since they're so extremely different. The pregnancy was never going to result in a viable offspring. The miscarriage was inevitable.” “So…” Camilo put a hand to his forehead. “We really can't have a baby.” “Because our bodies are two different species,” Rheni said, gripping Camilo's hand. “I guess…that's a relief,” Camilo said. “We can't actually have a child.” Sydryn tilted their head. “Well, if you look at that aspect alone, yes. But you could still become pregnant again and suffer miscarriage again. I doubt you'd want to relive that.” Camilo nodded slowly. “Yeah… So then, how do we prevent that from happening again?” “Well, abstinence has the highest guaranteed success rate, but if you must satisfy your sexual urges, than contraceptives would be my recommendation,” Sydryn said. “So...condoms?” Rheni said. “Not really the most effective contraceptive,” Sydryn said. “I was thinking more along the lines of an implant.” Camilo blanched a little. “Uh… I don’t know if I'd be comfortable with that… Couldn't we meet halfway with the pill?” “Camilo, you're on testosterone,” Sydryn said. “You can consult your personal doctor about it, but from my knowledge, which is extensive, combining testosterone and birth control is like pressing the gas and the brakes at the same time.” “Oh… I'll um… I'll talk to my doctor about other contraceptive options then,” Camilo said. Sydryn nodded. “Good. I'd say until you've settled on something safe, abstain.” “Yeah, we will,” Rheni said. “I don’t want Camilo to get hurt again.” “Good.” Sydryn crossed his arms on his desk. “Camilo, it may be over, but I'd still like you to take another couple days to rest, okay? I don’t want to see you at work.” “Okay…” Sydryn smiled warmly. “It may make you feel a bit better knowing that this event has contributed a lot more to furthering my research on Arrhenius's species. Getting a better sense of his biology could help us in determining more about his human identity and his attachment to this form.” “Well, anything that helps us help you,” Camilo said gazing over at his boyfriend. “Can’t be completely bad…” Rheni frowned. “If helping me means you're getting hurt, I don’t ever want to find out who I am and get out of this body.” “This isn't us making a sacrifice of Camilo for your sake,” Sydryn said. “This is a tragic event that just happens to have a small silver lining. Perhaps I was out of place to celebrate the small gain we received. I'm sorry.” Rheni looked down and shook his head. “It's okay… I get it. I just… Never mind. It's okay.” “If you want to talk about it later, we can,” Camilo said. “Do you want to go home?” “I…Well do you?” Rheni asked. “If there's anything else we need to know, I'd like to hear it,” Camilo said. “No, I believe that's all I have for you at this time,” Sydryn said. “If you have questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them.” “I don’t think I do…” Camilo said. “No,” Rheni stated. “Alright, then I'll see you off.” Sydryn got up and opened the door for them. “Please do rest.” “I will,” Camilo said. “I’ll make sure he does. Thanks again,” Rheni said, taking Camilo’s hand as they left.

Rheni: I don’t know if I’ve said this enough, but I love you.

Fay chuckled. “Good because I didn't send one. Just trying to keep you on your toes.” Another day at the office, another day Camilo couldn’t predict if he tried. “You scared me…” Fay smiled. “Yeah, I prefer to tell people things in person if I know I'll be seeing them. Anyway, there's two things. The first is I'll be taking another week off so I'll have to put you with Bendt.” “Bendt?” “Sorry. Korsgaard.” “Oh. Okay…” Camilo was a little worried about that since he'd never talked to Korsgaard before and was frankly intimidated. “Don’t worry, I'll introduce you,” Fay said. “But he's really just a big teddy bear. One of the nicest guys here.” Camilo nodded. “It's fine. I feel like a week will be good for you.” Fay nodded. “I think so too.” “And the second thing?” Camilo asked. “Right… The second thing is…” Fay placed a hand on Camilo's shoulder. “I'd like to remind you that Rheni's room is always under surveillance.” Camilo blinked then looked at Fay and blanched. “I…You saw…” Fay shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen anything but the guard on surveillance decided to let me know that maybe you'd want to be reminded.” Camilo covered his face. “Someone saw… This is so embarrassing…” Fay rubbed his assistant's shoulder. “It's not that bad. The guards have seen much worse. It was just a kiss.” “Why is he being watched like that anyway?” Camilo asked. “He's a human being! He has the right to privacy!” “Rheni's rights are complicated,” Fay said. “I hate to say it, but his humanity is still under question.” “What does that matter?” Camilo asked. “Why can’t he get out of here? What about all the aliens you've let out into the country? Why do they get their own homes and privacy?” Fay sighed. “Aliens like…like Vi for example are of alien races recognised as allies and not harmful to this planet. Rheni is not. The very idea that a human consciousness was stolen from a human body and put inside an alien one is enough to classify the species as hostile. And the aliens that have been released are able to look like humans. Rheni can’t. Not to mention, none of them is really free from surveillance. Hell, I'm from this planet but because I'm not human, as long as I'm walking on the Earth, I'm being watched all the time. It's just something we get used to.” “It's not right,” Camilo said. “I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. If you want it to change, you can start picketing but right now if you intend to keep on with Rheni, you're going to be watched.” Camilo grit his teeth and looked down. “I want to help him.” “I know you do. So do your job. Your job is helping me help him. I'm trying to get him out of here too because I know he's human too and you’re right, he deserves his rights.” Camilo crossed his arms and looked to the corner of the room. “Okay.” Fay raised an eyebrow and took his chin. “Cam, you’re mad at me.” “I’m not… I’m just…” He shook his head not sure what to say. Fay let out a long serious sigh. “You need to sit down. Come sit in my chair.” “I’m fine.” “Sit in the chair. We need to have a talk.” Camilo frowned but obeyed, going to sit down in the computer chair. Fay took a seat in one of the guest chairs and leaned forward, crossing his legs. “Cam, I get the sense you’re really falling for Rheni,” Fay said. “If that’s true, then you need to think about this.” Camilo rubbed his arm. “I don’t know how I feel… I just… I’ve never felt the same way with anyone before… Rheni is special…to me…” Fay breathed in deep. “Can I ask you something personal? Not as superior because that would be very inappropriate.” Camilo nodded. “Probably still inappropriate ‘cause you’re still my boss, but I guess.” “Have you been intimate with anyone before?” Camilo’s eyes widened. “Oh… Uh, yes. I have…” Fay tilted his head. “Really? Since coming out as male?” Camilo hesitated then shook his head. “Ah,” Fay said. “That explains it… Camilo, you are new. You are a fresh and fairly unexperienced person. Rheni isn’t a cute guy you meet at a coffee shop with family problems and hasn’t learned how to groom his facial hair yet. Rheni isn’t the business man with great ideas and student loans on the road to a white picket fence and two dogs. He cannot offer you that kind of life. Rheni is a lot. He is a man in an alien body. He is a path full of struggle and pain. He is constant surveillance. He is tests and checkups and shots and samples and gloves.” “Why are you saying all this?” Camilo asked. “What do you have against him?” Fay shook his head. “Absolutely nothing. Rheni is sweet and kind and loving and dedicated. And you’re sweet and kind and loving and dedicated. And I want you together. But I also want you both to be happy. So I want you to think rationally about this. Because he will fall head over heels for you and I do not want anyone to get hurt if you’re both not ready for this relationship.” Camilo looked at Fay. “So, you’re worried that I'll break up with him because I find the relationship too difficult.” “I've known Rheni for many years,” Fay said. “And I like you too. I don’t want to see any broken hearts.” Camilo looked away and then rubbed his neck. “Fay, all my life has been difficult so far. And I never expected to have any kind of normal life. I can't promise you it's going to work out with me and Rheni. But I can promise you I'll try.” “You’re sure? Because for you, things will get better. But for Rheni…there's no certainty for him. Not for what he wants and deserves.” “Trust me,” Camilo said. “I'm not looking for some kind of fling. Heck, I don’t even know how we would…you know…” “Oh, there's a fairly unlimited amount of ways to have sex with him,” Fay said. “Was that not one of your motivations?” “What? No!” Camilo shook his head. “I mean, not that I'm grossed out, but… I'm not like…I like being with him.” “So you don’t want to have sex with him?” “No, I do. I want to… But now you're telling me we're always being watched…” “Oh, everyone everywhere is always being watched, let's be real,” Fay said. “This is the technological age. The only place I know that isn’t being watched is the bottom of the ocean. Not by humans and by no extreme extent anyway.” “Anyway I like Rheni and I'm not going to quit him,” Camilo said. “Now I really don’t want to keep talking to my boss about this.” Fay waved a hand. “Alright, I'll drop it. But I assure you, Rheni will get the same talk.” Camilo nodded and stood up. “Thanks… I appreciate your concern.” “You want to go see him now, don’t you?” Camilo frowned. “Would it be appropriate?” “Not if he's not on the schedule.” “Oh…” “Thankfully he is. Let's go.” “Ah… Haha, right.”

They made their way down to Rheni’s quarters. Apparently he wasn’t expecting them because they came upon a slightly odd scene. Rheni wasn’t hiding again or anything but instead was sitting at his table. The odd thing was that he had an extension of himself shaped like Camilo sitting opposite him holding his hand and talking to him. “Wow, Cam, that Mario Kart match was crazy right?” Rheni was saying to himself. “You’re lucky I let you draft behind me to pull off that victory.” “Lucky? You were just too slow,” Slime Cam was saying. “Come on, for a guy with no job spending all day playing video games, you really need to step up your game.” “Pshh, I have a job,” Rheni said. “I am a professional…lab subject.” “Do you get paid?” Slime Cam asked. “Well, no…” “Then you’re not a professional and it’s not a job. You’re a slave.” “Oh, Camilo… How can you say it like that?” Rheni asked dramatically. “I know it to be true but I do my best to try and lighten it up for myself.” Slime Cam frowned. “Aw… I didn’t mean to make you upset… I just… I wish I could help…” “You know what would help?” “What?” Rheni tilted his head. “Another kiss from you.” Slime Cam chuckled a little and batted his eyes, leaning forward. Real Cam decided to clear his throat at this point. Rheni nearly exploded in surprise. “Real Cam! Fay! Hi!” Slime Cam fell into a puddle and reabsorbed into the slime man. “Sorry we interrupted,” Fay said. “N-No no! It’s nothing!” Rheni’s slime churned restlessly on his face, droplets falling off of it. “I, uh… How long were you…” “Long enough,” Camilo said smiling. Rheni shrunk a little. “That was, um…” “Cute,” Camilo said. “And kind of cool. I didn’t know you could do that.” “Oh you haven’t seen him impersonate anyone yet?” Fay asked. “It's quite fun. He likes to do it to the director all the time. Although, not trying to kiss him.” Rheni smiled sheepishly. “It's, uh… Yeah, I don’t really have a certain face. The one I use most of the time kinda feels right but I've just used it for a really long time.” “So you have no idea what you actually look like?” Camilo asked. Rheni shook his head. “Not a clue. It could be similar to this but I really don’t know.” Fay patted Camilo's back. “Go sit down with your boyfriend.” Camilo blushed and Rheni squirmed a bit. “B-boy… We aren’t uh…” Rheni looked to Camilo. “Are we boyfriends now?” Camilo sighed. “The security guards saw us and told Fay.” “Well, shit…” Rheni sunk his hands into his knees. “This isn’t illegal, is it?” Fay shook his head. “No… It is against work policy though.” “Come on, Fay,” Rheni said. “You've done way worse than us. Heck, you impregnated one of your clients. So what's the big deal is Cam and I kiss a bit?” “My situation is different,” Fay said. “I'm just asking you two to think about your actions. I'm not telling you to do or not do anything.” Camilo frowned. “And what if we're asking? What are we supposed to do?” Fay sighed and put his hands in his hips. “Cam… I don’t have a simple solution for you.” “Then what's the complicated solution?” Fay rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, the director will probably find out one way or another. Like with me and Dari, I went to him for his permission. I was lucky. The right thing for you is to tell the director your intentions. But I can’t promise you he'll allow it and if he doesn’t, you run the risk of never being allowed to see Rheni again.” Camilo tensed up, looking over to Rheni. “But I…” Rheni sighed and rubbed Camilo's hand. “It's probably the right thing to do.” “I can’t…” Camilo said. “I… I haven’t even come out to the director…” Fay rubbed his forehead. “He probably already knows. Think of your priorities.” “I don’t want to do it alone…” “I’ll be there for you,” Fay said. “You always have my support.” “I’d rather be there too,” Rheni said. “This is about me. I’d like to defend myself.” Fay bit his lip thinking for a moment. “Okay, fine… I’ll get him to come down here to talk to you two.” “When?” Camilo aske. “He’s really busy. It’ll be a couple days.” “But it’s Friday and you’re off next week,” Camilo said. “I can’t sit on this for over a week.” Fay checked his watch. “Fine. You two, stay right here.” He stepped out of the room to try and make a call. Camilo and Rheni sat there, waiting. Rheni kept rubbing the back of Camilo’s hand. “I don’t…uh, I don’t impersonate you like that often,” Rheni said. “In fact, never. This was the first time, I swear.” Camilo smiled and shook his head. “It’s fine if you do, Rheni. It didn’t look that much like me anyway.” Rheni pouted. “You didn’t like my art? I have to go off memory you know…” “I was just kidding,” Camilo said. “It was funny.” “I get lonely, okay?” Rheni said. “It's not like I could text you down here.” Camilo sighed. “We'll get you out of here one day.” “I like to hope so,” Rheni said. “I want to travel. I want to see everywhere and anywhere.” “Oh yeah? Where's the first place you'd want to see?” Camilo asked. “Hmm… Preferably your place.” Camilo tapped his arm. “Be serious. I mean country.” “To be honest, probably…England,” Rheni said. “Or the UK in general.” “Why?” “I dunno, I like castles and stuff,” Rheni answered. “And then I don’t have to worry too much about language issues.” “Sure, in England,” Camilo said. “I'd like to see you in Scotland.” “Well, it'd be easier than France or Japan.” Camilo smiled. “I'd rather go to Japan.” “That’s because you're a nerd.” “Says the guy who trains on Mario Kart.” Fay returned after a little bit, this time with the director. Camilo noticed Rheni tense up and took his hand. “We were lucky,” Fay said. “Director Allen was down checking up with the surveillance staff down here.” The director placed his hands on his hips. “I'm told you boys would like to tell me something.” Camilo nodded and looked to Rheni before speaking. “Sir, uh… Rheni and I… We… We really care about each other a lot.” “They're dating,” Fay said. “Kissed once.” The director sighed crossing his arms. “Fay, you're a terrible influence on these young people… Look, if you guys are serious, two things'll have to happen.” Camilo squeezed Rheni's hand nervously. “What would those be?” “Well, first, Rheni is Fay's client,” Director Allen said. “Next week, Fay's off, Camilo you're with Korsgaard.” Camilo nodded. “Yes.” “You should consider getting well acquainted with him.” Camilo blinked then looked to Fay and back to the director. “You're…saying I should become Korsgaard's assistant permanently?” “That way you're not directly working with Arrhenius,” he said. Camilo blanched. “But I promised Fay I'd help Rheni! I can't, I need to work with him. And he's the boss I've had.” “Well I'm him boss and your boss so you have to listen to me,” the Director stated. “Now, you didn’t let me finish.” Rheni squeezed Camilo's hand back in assurance. “So, you two maybe kissed once or twice,” the director said. “To me that doesn’t spell commitment. But if you're really intent on furthering this relationship, it could help us.” Camilo raised an eyebrow. “Help us how?” “We're trying to get Rheni out of here, but we're under funded,” Director Allen said. “We can't afford him staying down her anymore but we also can’t afford to get him his own place. Camilo, you're in school part time. Do you live at home? Do you have your own place?” “I moved into my own apartment a couple weeks ago,” Camilo said. “Just you? No roommates?” “Just me.” “Do you want one?” Camilo blinked then looked to Rheni. “You mean…?” He pointed. “That’s right,” the director said. Rheni started to tremble in excitement. “You mean I…I can leave this hole in the ground? I can go outside?” “Little steps,” the director said. “Out of the hole, yes. Outside, not yet. Like any of our arrivals, they go into residence with Surveillance. Camilo, you'd have to be comfortable with camera's put in communal areas.” “Oh… Uh…” Camilo scratched his head. “What counts as communal?” “Living room, kitchen mostly. Excludes bedrooms and bathrooms but only if they do not have access to the outdoors.” “Access like what?” Camilo asked. “Doors?” “And windows.” “Um, my bathroom doesn’t have any of those, but the bedroom accesses the balcony,” Camilo said. “If you agree to go forward, a technician will discuss camera locations with you but I'd assume then we'd need a balcony camera,” the director said. “What about voice recording?” Camilo asked. “You're not going to bug us, are you?” The director sighed and looked to Fay. “Come on,” Fay said. “What are you worried about them talking about?” “Fine,” the director said. “No sound recording. Are you comfortable with that?” Camilo looked to Rheni and thought for a moment. “…Well I'll never be 100% comfortable like that, but if it's for Rheni, I'll do it.” Rheni smiled. “We're gonna be roommates. Also, it sounds like there's only one bedroom.” Camilo chuckled. “Yep. You guessed it, you're sleeping in the living room.” “Ouch.” Rheni sighed. “Well, I guess I got to start packing.” “No need,” the director said. “We'll transport the bed. The rest is company property.” “You're kidding,” Rheni said. “But my books…and my saves!” The director rubbed his forehead. “Pick your top ten books.” “I have a Wii,” Camilo said. “We can get you an SD card for your saves.” Rheni nodded. “Okay, I guess that's fine… I guess all I can ask is when?” “It's Friday so Monday,” the director said. “Aw, I gotta wait a week?” Rheni groaned. “It'll give me the weekend to get ready to have you,” Camilo said. “You’ve waited this long. You can wait a weekend.” “Well, when you put it that way…” Rheni grinned. “Okay.” Director Allen checked his watch. “We're good here? I have to go.” “Yes, thank you, Allen,” Fay said. “We know you're busy.” The director just waved his hand and left. Camilo and Rheni immediately started beaming like mad. “This is awesome!” Rheni said. “I can't believe…You were my ticket out of here.” “Hopefully not just a ticket,” Camilo said pouting. Rheni shook his head. “No! Definitely more than that. I'm just so grateful.” Camilo smiled and lightly punched his arm. “I'm just playing with you. This is going to be fun.” Fay smiled watching them both. “You two are just so cute. You remind me so much myself and Dari. It feels like my babies have grown up.” Camilo got up and went to hug Fay. “Thank you so much. And I'm sorry I won’t be your assistant anymore.” “Well, I still have you today and we have five more individuals to see today,” Fay said patting Camilo's back. “Let's get going. Say good bye to your boyfriend.” “He's not…well…” Camilo looked to Rheni. “Are we?” Rheni smiled. “I'd like to think so.” “Okay.” Camilo waved. “I'll see you later.” Rheni leaned his head onto his knuckles. “Bye, cutie.” Camilo blushed and left with Fay, buzzing with the thoughts of how in the world he was going to clean up his whole apartment in only two days.

Cam: Also, Slime Me wasn’t very accurate cause he actually had an Adam’s apple.

Rheni: It was a gift. You didn’t like it?

On this particular day however, Fay was going on an hour late. Camilo had come in on time and twice had to tell the director he was sure Fay would be in shortly. Camilo sat quietly at his own desk, getting bored and fighting the urge to pull out the game console in his satchel to play while he waited. Finally Fay did come, though without coffee and breakfast this time like usual when he was late. Instead he seemed hurried and a little off colour. Camilo got up from his desk to meet him at his office door. “Good morning.” “Oh, morning, Cam,” Fay said smiling. “Sorry I'm late. I hope you didn’t wait too long for me.” “Uh, no… But um, the director was checking in,” Camilo said. “I told him you'd be here soon.” Fay sighed and let them into his office. “He's always meddling… Well, we have work to be done so if he really needs me, he can find me. I don’t have time to go to him.” Camilo nodded. He stood in the corner waiting while his boss went through his desk. “Is everything okay today?” Fay glanced to him. “Hm? Yes, everything's fine. Why do you ask?” Camilo rocked on his heels. “You don’t seem yourself today. Are you feeling well?” Fay smiled. “Thank you for your concern. I'm very well, I assure you.” He found the tablet in the bottom drawer of his desk and stood up straight. “You on the other hand have anxious eyes. Did you bring your boyfriend another little gift?” Camilo flushed immediately. “What?” “You have something in that little bag of yours for Rheni, right?” Fay said. “Hoping we'll visit him today.” “Um, yes… But he's not my boyfriend,” Camilo said. “I just brought my Switch because I know he wanted to try one. But it's not for him, he doesn’t get to keep it.” “Right. Unfortunately, we're not scheduled to see him today,” Fay stated. Camilo deflated. “Oh…” “That doesn’t mean you can’t do lunch again.” “Oh! Right, lunch.” Camilo nodded. “Yes. We can do that.” “Well, you can,” Fay said. “I have a board meeting at lunch so you're free to spend it how you like.” “But I don’t have clearance for the basement on my own,” Camilo said. “Oh,” Fay said. “Right, hold on.” He opened the tablet and meddled around, cursing under his breath. “Ugh, I hate these machines…” He got up and opened the door. “McVey!” “Yes?” his co-worker responded. “How do I give my assistant basement clearance?” “Why?” “I need him to do some errands while I'm in the meeting today.” “You open his profile, go to clearance level, select 2-5 from the drop down.” “Where's his profile?” “It's under users.” “Where's…can you just do it?” “Ugh, fine. Name?” “Fay Demer.” “Not yours, the assistant.” “Oh. Camilo Ferrer.” “Kay, done.” “Thank you!” Fay smiled and closed the door. “Sorry about that. Sometimes this technology is beyond me.” Camilo nodded. “It's fine. So I'm able to go down?” “Yes. McVey's the best. Anyway, how about we get to work?” “Of course.”

Come lunchtime, Fay bid Camilo good luck before heading off to his meeting and the assistant made his way down to the basement by himself. It was more frightening this time going on the elevator by himself but eventually it was over and he was out. Although Fay had done his part to introduce him to the guards, they were still quite intimidating while they walked beside him down the hall. He had to try and imagine he was some kind of celebrity and that they were his bodyguards because he was a big deal. He often got lost in the semantics however, not knowing what talent he would have to warrant such fame and in the end he usually just felt like a criminal being escorted to prison. At Rheni's door he hesitated. It wasn’t that he'd forgotten the passcode, he'd saved it on his phone. He was just nervous. He'd never been alone with the Diso, and as much as he'd grown to like him, he was still a man in the body of an alien life form. Passcode in, the door slid open. This time Rheni didn’t try to surprise him. He was lounging on his bed watching TV. His bed was a funny thing. It had a plastic cover over it keeping it pliant but not soft as Rheni's body would sink into the fibres of the bed if he fell asleep on it since he had to consciously keep his shape. When he fell asleep, he was basically no more than a puddle. A purple, corrosive puddle. For this reason, the bed was fairly uncomfortable for anyone else to sit on but thankfully one of the chairs at his table was well padded. The slime man looked up from the TV when he heard the door open and his face of curiosity quickly flipped to delight. “Cammy!” “Ahaha…” Camilo really hated that nickname. “Hi, Rheni.” “I didn’t realise I had an appointment today,” Rheni said. “Wait, what day of the week is it?” “It's Monday and no you don’t have an appointment,” Camilo said. “I'm just visiting.” “You? No Fay?” Camilo shook his head. “Is, um… Is that okay?” Rheni grinned. “Of course. I love a good lunch date.” Camilo tried to cover his blushing by turning to pull his game out of his bag, acting like it was stuck so he could cool off. “Ah, there we go… I brought this.” When he turned back around, he nearly jumped as Rheni was standing right there in front of him beaming. “You brought me a Nintendo Switch?!” Rheni exclaimed, reaching for it. “Yeah, but hold on!” Camilo said holding it to his chest. “It's mine and I spent good money on it so you have to be careful and it's only for today.” “Yes, yes, okay!” Rheni said. “Let's play, let's play, let's play!” “Okay, but hold on,” Camilo said, going over to the TV and placing the game down on the coffee table. He took out the dock and some wires and things. “It'll take a bit to set up.” Rheni groaned and went to lie on his bed again. “I thought this thing was supposed to be easy and portable.” “Not if you want it on the big screen.” Rheni watched the guy plug in the dock, hook it up to the TV, slide in the system, pull out four controllers, slide them in pairs into holders, and fiddle around with the TV inputs until he finally got a picture and sound. “Okay, do you want to be blue and red or green and pink?” Camilo asked. “Or it could also be green and red or blue and pink but then the first looks like Christmas…” “Green and pink,” Rheni said. “Good choice.” Camilo passed him controllers. “Don’t corrode them, please.” “I won’t. What games you got?” “I was thinking we could play Mario Kart,” Camilo said. “Oh, ho, ho, get ready to get destroyed,” Rheni said sitting up, poised to play. “Oh really? This was the only game I played last summer so don't be so confident,” Camilo said pulling up the comfy chair. “Alright, let's get into this,” Rheni said. “As much as I like you, I will drive you off the road.” Camilo started the game, explaining the newest driving techniques added to this iteration of Mario Kart. “Can motorcycles still do wheelies to boost?” Rheni asked. “Naw, they don’t but I mean they still do a wheelie when they boost,” Camilo said. “I mean like, when they boost, the pop a wheelie but you can’t make them pop a wheelie randomly to make them boost. It's like they'll do a wheelie when you use mushroom or click R over a ramp but then don't have any—” “I got it,” Rheni said. “No wheelies. Boo.” “Yeah, sorry. That's one of the fun things from Wii but I guess they figured it was an advantage maybe,” Camilo said. “Race me!” As they got into it, Camilo started off being nice but soon realised Rheni was very skilled and had to try very hard, not wanting to embarrass himself. Camilo won the first Grand Prix but only by a couple points and then Rheni had learned quick and won the next Grand Prix and the next. And then the next. By the fifth race, he was ahead by a dozen points. Camilo was actually beginning to get frustrated and his knuckles were becoming white. Suddenly he jumped, feeling a cool finger on his arm. “Wha...” “Chill out,” Rheni said putting down his controller. He retracted his hand. “I can see you getting frustrated and it's really not fun for me if you're not having fun.” “I…I am having fun,” Camilo said. “I'm just off my game.” “Look, all I do down here is play video games,” Rheni said. “You're in school right? You don’t have the free time I do considering you go to school and you do this job too. And you made me sweat too, okay? Chill.” Camilo nodded. “Sorry. I'll loosen up.” Rheni smiled. “Do you want to try again? Or maybe you have another game we can play?” “We could play cooperative,” Camilo said. “I mean, I have other games but I think it'd be cool to try the battle modes.” “Sure, they'll be knew to me,” Rheni said. They decided on Coin Runner and got into it, playing for the blue team and winning several rounds. Rheni got quiet for a bit while they played, making Camilo think he was maybe ‘tryharding’ but then the slime man sighed. “You know I really like you, right?” Camilo was still into the game a was a little distracted so he wasn’t sure if he heard what he heard. “What was that?” “C’mon. Pause.” Camilo did as told and rubbed his arm. “Yes?” “Did you hear me?” Rheni asked. “I like you.” Camilo blushed. “I like you too.” “Naw, I mean I like hanging out with you and seeing your face makes my heart…” He paused and looked down at himself. “Well, I guess…it makes my nucleus pulsate. And I thought you should know because it’s really been keeping me up, so now it’s out there and you probably think I’m gross but that’s out there now so… Yeaahhh…” Camilo blinked a couple times, then started to blush profusely. His hands began shaking so he pushed one into his hair trying to calm his nerves. “I…Uh, I don’t think you’re gross…” Rheni frowned and hung his head back. “Gee, thanks.” Camilo shook his head. “I meant what I said. I like you too.” Rheni’s narrow eyes only narrowed more. “…What do you mean?” “I mean…” Camilo started, looking down. “…I like hanging out with you and seeing your face makes…my nucleus pulsate too.” Rheni let out a small snort. “Hah, really?” Camilo nodded. “By nucleus, I mean heart.” “I figured.” Rheni tilted his head back up. “…But like…why? Why would you like me like that?” Camilo shrugged. “Why you me?” “Because you’re hot and you’re nice to me and you treat me like a human being while everyone else treats me like an alien,” Rheni said. “Well except Fay, but he’s not my type.” Camilo placed a hand on his chest. “I’m your type?” “Yeah, I guess. It’s your turn to answer my question.” Camilo rubbed his own cheek. “Well, uh… I don’t know. I just do. I feel…comfortable around you and…well…you’re my favourite colour…” Rheni snorted again and started chuckling. “Your…your favourite colour… Stop… That’s so cute…” Camilo frowned. “I’m not cute.” “You are cute and that’s what I like about you,” Rheni said. “It’s that kind of stuff you say… And well… I feel like we both know what it feels like to…” He rolled his nucleus out of his shoulder and into his hands. “Well, to have a disconnect between body and self. I feel like you understand me better.” Camilo looked down again and rubbed his neck. “Yeah… But I mean…yours has to be worse. Not having a human body…” Rheni shrugged. “At this point, I think I’ve accepted this vessel. There’s some cool shit I can do that no one else can. Like I can pretty much be as tall, short, slim, or fat as I want to be. I have more control of my form than anyone else. It’s only hard when other people judge me based on that alone though. That’s what really kills me. But you…I dunno, it’s gotta be really rough.” Camilo shook his head. “It can’t be as bad as not being able to go outside because of the way you look. Because of your body.” Rheni sighed and went silent, leaning back in his bed. He closed his eyes and let his composition melt a little bit before gathering some words. “The only one trapping me here is me…” Camilo raised an eyebrow. “…But the EID…” “Well, yeah… Legally, I can’t go anywhere,” Rheni said. “But I am a liquid. I can fit into anything big enough for my nucleus. If I really tried, I could get out of here. The only thing stopping me is me… I’m scared of going out there.” Camilo looked at him. “Why?” “I guess, the people,” Rheni said. “I don’t want to go out there and be seen as a monster. I don’t want people to stare or…scream… I want to be seen as me.” “It's funny though,” Camilo said. “You don’t seem like the kind of guy who cares what other people think of you. In fact, you're the most confident person I've ever met.” “Hah, then maybe I was an actor before this…” Rheni said. “I am constantly thinking about my image… But I mean down here, I know what people think. I know I'm just a job to these people and they know what I am, though I think some still doubt my humanity. You on the other hand, you figured it out immediately after meeting me. You knew I wasn't an alien just by my behaviour. Or I think you said ‘eloquence'?” Camilo nodded. He smiled to Rheni. “…So, do we kiss now?” Rheni's eyes widened. “Can we? Like, you won’t find it weird?” “If you don’t make it weird.” “No, no, but I mean…I don’t know what I taste like.” “I guess I'll have to let you know,” Camilo assured. “Just, don’t be corrosive.” “I won’t!” Beads of slime began to slide down the sides of his head. “So are we gonna—” Camilo took Rheni's hand and put their lips together. He could feel Rheni's body tense up, his hand becoming stiff and smooth, his lips like plastic. Camilo pulled away briefly. “Relax.” “I…sorry…” Rheni softened up a bit. “I was trying to…do skin and stuff… And then, mouths are complicated.” Camilo shook his head. “A hole with a tongue. That's all.” “Right…” “Ready?” “Yeah.” Camilo tried again, this time with better results. He could feel Rheni's hand and lips get warm and it tingled a bit. Rheni's attempts at staying solid but soft created a pulsing sensation, like a mini massage. His lips parted allowing Camilo to deepen the kiss. Their hands parted and Camilo brought his up to the side and Rheni’s face, cupping his cheeks and controlling their embrace. The added touch seemed to really help the slime man relax and he smoothed out a lot, almost melting. Camilo broke the kiss again and panted a little, not realising how long he’d been without breath. “Sorry, are you okay?” Rheni asked. “Fine… Just, I guess you don’t need to breathe, huh?” Camilo said. “Crap, no. You need to do that so, yeah…” Rheni smiled sheepishly. “If I get carried away, I guess maybe tap my knee or something.” “I will.” “I could kiss you forever, really…” Camilo smiled. “I liked it. You actually…you taste like…a soda. Cause you’re tingly.” Rheni chuckled. “Really? I was worried it be like a chemical thing… Like, Mr. Clean. So what kind? I guess like something boring, like club soda.” Camilo shook his head. “No, it was sweet… Like, an unrecognisable flavour. Like Dr. Pepper but…fresher if that makes any sense.” “Well…do you like Dr. Pepper?” Camilo nodded. “Yeah, I really like it.”

Rheni: So... Are we actually going to have lunch or...?

Camilo: Oh, right! *checks his watch* Fuck, okay, would you like half my sandwich? I won’t have time to eat both slices before I have to get back to work.

Rheni: Hmm... Did you plan this just so you can watch me dissolve something?

Cam: Mmmaybe.