struggling to put my thoughts into words so bullet points it is
their parents die when Soda and Matcha are still young
(sickness, caused by food, not enough time to burn it, to live)
Matcha grows close to Lucky, Soda grows quiet, distracted
all three end up working in scientific fields β Lucky focuses on chemistry, Soda on oceanography, Matcha on astronomy
Lucky meets its mate, Matcha starts working more
Soda meets Adrian while at one of the oceans, working
Matcha is spending more time in thrums, discussing the stars
Charm is born just before they start building a ship
Lucky is selected for the mission to save the stars
it's a good sign β the mission will be lucky, they will be home soon
Lucky's mate β Charm's parent β dies
(stress. doubt in the mission. mourning.)
Matcha works even more, Soda takes Charm in
Soda has to remind Matcha to eat, to sleep, has to look after Charm, and offers to watch Adrian sleep
they spend a lot of time spread out on the ground, trying to get a moment for itself, to find the energy to throw himself into projects to not let the worry grow
Rocky comes back, in a different ship, with an alien
Lucky is left behind, dead
Matcha knows it's not Rocky's fault that Lucky didn't come back, but she doesn't know who else to be angry with
Soda is relieved that Lucky won't come home to a dead mate, that Charm doesn't have to accept a near stranger as a parent. he doesn't know how to mourn
being an astronomer, Matcha has nothing to offer the thrum that wants to keep the alien alive. it doesn't know if she would have helped
with Soda enthusiastically working on the biodome β the alien wants the water cold! β Matcha is left to spend time with Charm. it's strange. Charm is Lucky's pebble, so it shouldn't be, but Matcha has missed so much of her life