#vosidee

The night was beautiful and clear. A warm summer wind floated carelessly through Vosim's neighborhood, rustling the trees with the slightest whisper. Yellow streetlights cut through the calm of the deep blue twilight, the fifths that formed a perfect open chord. Vosim and Dee were getting ready for bed, feeding the fish in Vosim's kitchen.

Vosim was opening the fish food. "Dee?"

"Yes?"

"What happens if they capture you?"

Dee stiffened. Though they'd spent years suppressing their thoughts, one mention of the inevitable brought them all back. Tens of hundreds of awful memories of wailing police sirens and damp back alleyways, of dirty wigs and people they didn't want to trust wandering by. The sounds of misery that echoed through their head. Of wandering, wandering and never stopping.

"I- I don't know."

"But Dee," Vosim insisted, "you do know. Otherwise, you wouldn't fear it, right? What happens?"

Dee blinked, not facing their boyfriend. "Plenty of people fear the unknown, Vosim," they said stiffly.

"But you don't," Vosim noted. "You always look towards it. You know something, Dee. What happens?"

Dee sighed. They guessed there was no escaping this one.

"Well, they might take me to jail, for one thing..."

"What happens in jail?"

"Bad things, Vosim."

Dee hadn't meant to snap at their partner, but they really hated thinking about all the bad possibilities in their life. It'd taken them so long to focus on what little good there was, that being reminded of all the bad was overwhelming.

"But Dee... W-What if they kill you?"

"They won't kill me."

Vosim saw right through them. "You don't know that-"

"They won't kill me!"

Dee shut their eyes, wrapping their arms around theirself. Somewhere, in their memory, something tricked them into feeling tears well up. But there were none; Dee's eyes were dry. They were always dry.

Vosim finally noticed something was wrong. "Dee... Dee, I didn't mean to..."

Dee didn't respond; their shoulders were hunched, and their head was angled to the floor. They couldn't bear to look at Vosim. They hated it when people thought they were weak. They could handle whatever life threw at them. They'd been through worse times, after all. But sometimes... Sometimes, being reminded of what life could throw at them was too much. Dealing with things just meant you got through them; it didn't mean you got through them smiling, or unscarred. And their past had already scarred them enough.

Dee felt arms wrapped around them, and realized they were Vosim's. Vosim cupped Dee's hands in his, and Dee held them back. Dee made no noise- they'd gotten in the habit of doing things silently, just in case someone heard- but Vosim cooed them with little humming noises while burying his face into Dee's shoulder. Dee wanted to feel better, so they wouldn't need all this intimacy when they were in a dark state, but... it felt kind of nice to have someone there for them, even if it was a weird sort of nice. They wanted to talk to Vosim, but they were scared of their voice breaking and Vosim knowing how awful of a place they really were in, so they kept silent.

Time seemed suspended in some thick liquid while they stood there. What was probably only a few minutes became hours that melted away as the two stood there together in Vosim's kitchen. Dee tried to concentrate on the sound of Vosim's voice humming in their ear, and letting it soothe their circuitry somehow so their voice would stop shaking. They slowly fell through the close contact until they felt somehow connected to Vosim, each small movement of Vosim's echoing through their own body. Maybe the movements would make them feel less empty. Probably not, but it was worth trying. It was always worth a try if that was the cause, no matter how much it never worked.

When they thought their voice had evened out, they spoke, though it still came out shakier than they wanted: "Vosim?"

"Mmm?"

"Look out the window. Look at the stars."

Vosim's head lifted to look out the window.

Though he lived in the city, the stars still shone bright through the atmosphere. When he looked long enough, he found himself understanding how Dee felt so connected, so pulled to them. Each of those stars, he reminded himself, was another Sun like theirs, some even more vast and powerful. And orbiting those suns were more planets, some maybe with life, some even with more friendly robots just like him. He didn't know where he'd read that; a book, somewhere. And if he looked long enough, the real gravity wasn't the one pulling him towards the Earth, but the one pulling him up, beckoning him to reach out and touch them.

"Vosim... No matter what happens to me, as soon as night falls, look at the stars."

He broke his gaze to look back at Dee. "What?"

"Vosim..." Dee was staring at the stars now. There was an intensity to their expression Vosim hadn't seen before. "If something ever happens to me, or even if I'm off running away and you feel lonely, look at the stars."

"But... Why?"

Dee squeezed his hand. "Whenever the sun comes out, it reflects in the atmosphere, its light rays obscuring the sky and turning it a bright, glowing blue. But when it goes down and the stars come out, you can see the rest of the universe, glowing and flickering and fading. And no matter where I am, Vosim, I can see those stars at night too. I'm never really that far from you, Vosim. Even the moon is only a tiny distance when you compare it to the rest of the universe."

"But Dee," Vosim was confused. "What if it rains?"

Dee cooed. "Then the stars come out afterwards and shine just a little brighter than before."

"But... That's only if you're alive. What if you die?" Vosim hugged Dee harder. "If you die, then I'm really alone, Dee!"

Dee found theirself growing stiff again, but didn't let theirself freeze up. Vosim needed them. "Vosim, if I die, look for a new star in the sky. That's me! And I'll- I'll always be shining down on you, Vosim." Their voice was getting shaky again. "I'll always be shining down on you with love and pride, because I love you so, so much, Vosim. I love you so much, and I'm proud of everything you do, and-"

"Dee!"

"Vosim, I'm not going to die!"

Vosim paused. Dee wasn't looking at the stars anymore. They were looking at the floor.

"I- I'm really sorry, Dee."

Dee heard Vosim speak, but the words took a few seconds to process in their head. "It's... It's okay, Vosim. You didn't know better."

Dee turned around and hugged Vosim weakly. Their partner wrapped their arms around them again. Being close to Vosim calmed Dee down a little, but not very much.

"Just... You'll never be alone, Vosim. I'll always be with you. Even if I'm dead, and you think I can't be with you, I will be. I promise. O-okay?"

Vosim nodded. "Okay, Dee."