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tamingthemuseTitle: Sunset star
Author: naughty_bangles
Rating: PG
Prompt #451 Gemini
Note: the astonomical observations in this piece are probably wrong here and there. I checked the color the stars, but beyond that ... Also that stuff morphed from recalling of adventures in the Pollux system (part of the Gemini constellation, hence for the prompt) into a hint of maybe space romance. I don't know.
Orange light was flooding the patio, giving the room the soft, warm atmosphere of the sunset. It was relaxing, even romantic. And available 24/7 if noone turned on the artificial lights. The third star of the North River was also the brightest, its glorious orange glow visible from way outside the galaxy, and enshrouding the system's space stations in an eternal sunset. Niez didn't notice the light anymore, if they had ever noticed it. They had grown up here, on the station. It was what they called "normal light", even if they knew "normal" was a very subjective notion. They had followed a scholar cycle on the academic station in the Rigel system, where the star was blue, and they had felt cold all along, despite the environmental settings being roughly the same as their home station. It was the light, they had realised after a couple of weeks. It gave everything a freezing shine. Shona, a human from the Sol system, had had the same impression, even though her star was more yellow than the deep orange of theirs.
Shona had been a dear friend of theirs since their first year, and she had spent a month on the station after graduation, as a holiday of sort before her first job on a refinery at the border of the Medusa nebula. Many Itohit had never seen a human before. Their people wasn't keen on exploring other systems and cultures. Niez was an excentric by itohitin standards, which was still mostly regarded as a silly but harmless feature of theirs. Their friends and relatives had listened to their explanations about the gender idea existing in Shona's species, awed at the biological mechanic of human reproduction, so complex and ineffective to an Itohit eye, but they never inquired further. They accepted every one of Shona's differences with a kind disinterest, complying with her needs without trying to understand them.
Their sibling had solely wondered why would Niez become friends with another being. They had already enough friends here, on the station, and Shona would most likely spend the rest of their life out there in space. They understood the need from academic friends, but was it wise to continue the acquaintance afterwards? Niez had tried to explain that their relationship was different, valuable enough to be worth being worked on through the distance. They had asked if it was that "pet" relationship other cultures seemed to value so much. They hadn't understood the concept very well.
Niez kept the lights off and stepped into the patio, closing the door behind them. Their personal tablet in hand, they sat on a bench along the left wall, set back from the main section of the room. Even if they entered, they would have to look carefully to see them. Niez activated the screen of the tablet and selected the recording application. They had received a message from Shona this morning, and they had waited to have some time alone to reply to it. She had offered Niez to come and visit her on her station, in the nebula. And maybe they should go.
Author: naughty_bangles
Rating: PG
Prompt #451 Gemini
Note: the astonomical observations in this piece are probably wrong here and there. I checked the color the stars, but beyond that ... Also that stuff morphed from recalling of adventures in the Pollux system (part of the Gemini constellation, hence for the prompt) into a hint of maybe space romance. I don't know.
Orange light was flooding the patio, giving the room the soft, warm atmosphere of the sunset. It was relaxing, even romantic. And available 24/7 if noone turned on the artificial lights. The third star of the North River was also the brightest, its glorious orange glow visible from way outside the galaxy, and enshrouding the system's space stations in an eternal sunset. Niez didn't notice the light anymore, if they had ever noticed it. They had grown up here, on the station. It was what they called "normal light", even if they knew "normal" was a very subjective notion. They had followed a scholar cycle on the academic station in the Rigel system, where the star was blue, and they had felt cold all along, despite the environmental settings being roughly the same as their home station. It was the light, they had realised after a couple of weeks. It gave everything a freezing shine. Shona, a human from the Sol system, had had the same impression, even though her star was more yellow than the deep orange of theirs.
Shona had been a dear friend of theirs since their first year, and she had spent a month on the station after graduation, as a holiday of sort before her first job on a refinery at the border of the Medusa nebula. Many Itohit had never seen a human before. Their people wasn't keen on exploring other systems and cultures. Niez was an excentric by itohitin standards, which was still mostly regarded as a silly but harmless feature of theirs. Their friends and relatives had listened to their explanations about the gender idea existing in Shona's species, awed at the biological mechanic of human reproduction, so complex and ineffective to an Itohit eye, but they never inquired further. They accepted every one of Shona's differences with a kind disinterest, complying with her needs without trying to understand them.
Their sibling had solely wondered why would Niez become friends with another being. They had already enough friends here, on the station, and Shona would most likely spend the rest of their life out there in space. They understood the need from academic friends, but was it wise to continue the acquaintance afterwards? Niez had tried to explain that their relationship was different, valuable enough to be worth being worked on through the distance. They had asked if it was that "pet" relationship other cultures seemed to value so much. They hadn't understood the concept very well.
Niez kept the lights off and stepped into the patio, closing the door behind them. Their personal tablet in hand, they sat on a bench along the left wall, set back from the main section of the room. Even if they entered, they would have to look carefully to see them. Niez activated the screen of the tablet and selected the recording application. They had received a message from Shona this morning, and they had waited to have some time alone to reply to it. She had offered Niez to come and visit her on her station, in the nebula. And maybe they should go.
