~~~

Lectes skittered out of the wormhole, kicking the engine back to life and hurtling through dense clouds and forsaking the silver city in favor of the charming countryside of Anope. Below, sky scraping trees blurred by, specially designed homes embedded in only the most goliath species. With them came the memories of past family gatherings on some ambiguous Anopian holiday, getting stuck in a tree with a childhood friend, and the days he’d met and married his wife. Lectes cast a quick glance at the wrist brace, well loved, he’d received that unforgettable day. Hopefully she still wore the one he’d given her. It was symbolic of a shackle, Anopians have a strange way of viewing marriage in comparison to most other species. Marriage is forever and the brace is irremovable, not even after death, and they like it that way. Lectes liked it that way.

The transmitter crackled to life, Commander Nefaris’ voice leapt free, pausing upon the revelation of an unexpected person popping online. “Lectes?”

He killed the transmitter. Not now, he was late for a meeting and there were some things in life that simply could not wait for him to waste time on the government’s “protocol.”

The suns were just beginning to dip below the horizon, the darkening sky being the precise shade of blue his’ wife’s skin was, when Lectes threw open the ship door. Greedily, he gulped down the familiar scent of the native flowers and foliage. Nocturnal flies glittered, their glow lighting up the luminescent blood of the twilight ferns. Spiralling steps, laced with vines, carved and recarved by generations of one family, crawled up the tree before him. Colorful insects danced wood, fluttering away from his double shadow, the beginnings of a storm dripping off leaves and sprinkling Lectes’ too long grey-striped onyx hair from years of leaving it unclipped.

The steps fell away behind him, he wasn’t even winded when he traced them to the top. His house looming before him, he hesitated at the door. Will they even recognize me? He feared.

 Tentatively, he twisted the knob and gave the sturdy door a gentle push. It swung, creaking with age, casting light over the dim sitting room proceeding the threshold. Three Anopians whirled on the door, a cup slipped from the female’s hands, emitting a thunk sound and soaking the carpet she’d woven herself. The two boys took a bit longer to recognize him, regardless, neither knew what to do about it. 

Lectes stood there, feeling stupid, racking his mind for what to say. What was he supposed to say? Had words even been invented to suit this unusual scenario? Lectes settled on the only thing that seemed appropriate: “May I come in?”

The clouds wept.