Chapter 254
“You want me to help you plan a date for me?” I do the mental math. “Great-aunt. Oh, I’m all in. What were you thinking?”
Peter’s shoulders slump. “See, that’s the part where I’m drawing a blank.”
“Remember what I just said about putting too much pressure on yourself?”
Peter runs his hands over his face and groans like the weight of his entire soul is collapsing into this one moment. “Okay. So hypothetically, if I were to ask her out. What does that even look like? Dinner in the medbay? A stroll through the radiation labs? Maybe a romantic rendezvous by the giant take of writhing hellbeasts?”
I snort. “Well, when you put it like that…”
He grins sheepishly. “This isn’t exactly the most romantic environment.”
“Excuse you, I practically got married here,” I say, standing and stretching my arms over my head. “First, you’re not asking her out. Not yet. You’re asking her to spend time with you. To talk. To laugh. To feel like a person again. That’s the goal. Romance isn’t something you force—it grows out of the time you spend together.”
Peter leans back in his chair and sighs. “Okay. Then… what do I do?”
I think for a second, then gesture to his cluttered desk. “What do you have access to? Resources? Anything you can use to set up a space that doesn’t feel like it came straight out of a horror movie?”
He blinks, then looks around. “I mean… I’ve got a projector. And a bunch of old digital archives from the surface—old movies, music… stuff I used to help teach Wake about human culture.”
My eyebrows lift. “Peter. You’re sitting on a nostalgia treasure trove.”
He starts to smile. “So… like a movie night?”
“Exactly,” I say, nodding. “A low-pressure way to introduce her to human culture, connect over something, and make her feel like she belongs. Pick something light. Funny. No tragic deaths or experimental horror, please.”
Peter’s mind is clearly racing now. “I think I still have The Princess Bride. That’s universally loved, right?”
“Perfect,” I say, already imagining Delphi’s reaction to the fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, and miracles. “Just don’t get too upset if she falls in love with Cary Elwes instead.”
Peter laughs—really laughs—and it’s such a rare sound in this place that it hits me like sunlight breaking through the clouds.
“She’s going to think I’m an idiot,” he says.
“She’s going to think you’re sweet,” I reply. “And brave. And patient. Which, by the way, are all way more attractive than trying to act like you’ve got it all figured out.”
Peter nods slowly. “Okay. Okay. I can do this.”
“You can,” I say. “And I’ll help however I can. I’m kind of the unofficial Enkian-to-human integration ambassador now anyway.”
He grins again, and something in his face settles—like this decision is a foothold in the slippery, uncertain terrain of his world.
Then he glances toward the door. “She’s still in the med ward. Probably asleep.”
I shake my head. “No time like the present. Set it up. I’ll keep her distracted for a bit if you want.”
Peter stands, already energized. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack,” I say. “You focus on your end.”
He grabs my arm suddenly, grounding us both. “Phoebe… thank you. For coming back. For all of this. I know it’s ridiculous considering everything else that’s going on.”
My throat tightens a little. “Of course. I’m not going anywhere.”
I leave Peter’s office with a strange warmth in my chest. Could it be… no. Glee? My heart feels lighter than it has in ages. How long has it been since I last had… fun?
I find Delphi in the infirmary lounge, curled up on a chair with a blanket draped around her shoulders. The room is dim and quiet, lit mostly by the soft glow of the screen on the wall that cycles through calming oceanic imagery—schools of fish darting through coral, a slow-motion octopus unfurling across rocks. It’s clearly designed to help the patients relax, but I can tell she’s not really watching. Her gaze is distant, her expression unreadable.
She turns her head as I approach, and immediately brightens. “Phoebe.”
I smile and sit beside her. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
She gives a tiny shrug. “Better, I think. I keep expecting to wake up and find that this was all a dream. Or… that I never got out.”
“You did,” I say gently. “You’re here. You’re safe.”
Her lip trembles, and for a second, I think she might cry again. But she doesn’t. Instead, she shifts and curls her legs up beneath her, more at ease now. “Is Peter mad at me?”
The question catches me off guard. “What? No. Why would he be?”
“I told him I wanted space earlier. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. I just…” She trails off, her voice growing quiet. “Sometimes when he looks at me, I feel like I have to be more than I am. Like I have to be the version of myself I was before. Before the tanks. Before the pain. But I don’t know if I can.”
“You don’t have to be anyone but who you are now,” I tell her. “And Peter’s not expecting anything. He just wants to be here. For you. However, you need him.”
She looks at me, searching my face, as if trying to believe that.
“I mean it,” I continue. “He’s planning something. A surprise. Just for you.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
